Paris (AFP)
Sylvie Goulard, appointed European Commissioner for the "Internal Market", was heard Tuesday morning by the judicial police in the case of alleged fictitious jobs called "Modem", it was learned from a close source of the file.
Ms. Goulard was heard under the free hearing in the premises of the Central Office for the fight against corruption and financial and tax offenses (OCLCIFF) in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), said the source, confirming information from the Point. She was appointed European Commissioner for the Internal Market mid-day, a broad portfolio that encompasses industrial policy, the digital single market, as well as the defense and space industry.
The appointment of Sylvie Goulard by Emmanuel Macron to fill the post of France at the European Commission, had caused some grinding teeth because of its alleged involvement in the case of fictitious jobs of assistants of the MEPs Modem party.
This EU specialist with recognized skills and a centrist MEP from 2009 to 2017, had to leave his post as Minister of the Armed Forces, just one month after his appointment in 2017, because of this case which also caused the departure of centrists. François Bayrou and Marielle de Sarnez.
Sylvie Goulard has repaid 45.000 euros gross in the European Parliament, had indicated the Point at the beginning of September, an information confirmed by the entourage of the new European commissioner.
This reimbursement corresponds to the salaries and expenses of his parliamentary assistant Stéphane Thérou and "concerns the period of employment of the assistant from July 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015," said a source close to the French judicial investigation.
On 30 August, the European Parliament closed the deal without specifying the amount of the reimbursement. "There are minor administrative irregularities noted, not systematic and unintentional.The reimbursement related to this case was made," said a spokeswoman interviewed by AFP.
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