Udre unimpressive in EU parliamentary hearing

  • 2004-10-06
  • By The Baltic Times
BRUSSELS - Latvia's EU commissioner designate Ingrida Udre answered deputies' questions for three hours on Thursday in a session marked by strong doubt of her integrity and competence for a position that would put her at the head of the union's tax and customs policy.

Udre was repeatedly asked about allegations of illegal party financing that had dogged her party in Latvia - the Greens and Farmers' Union - and even led to an investigation and fines - last year. Though she tried to lay the issue to rest, deputies from various Europarliament parties - particularly the European People's Party and the Party of European Socialists - returned to the issue repeatedly during the session. At one point the panel chairman for customs, English MEP Philip Whitehead, pleaded Udre to be more open and transparent in her answers.

Udre, whose candidacy for the commission post was marred from the very beginning, answered the campaign-finance questions in broad strokes, opting not to get into details. At several points she responded by telling the Europarliament deputies that they had been "misinformed" about events in Latvia.

Udre was also questioned rigorously for her previous Euroskeptical stances, many of which she campaigned on during the 2002 parliamentary election.

Many of Udre's answers regarding matters of principal and technical importance were also unconvincing, with two deputies - including Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis of the EPP - suggesting that she was flip-flopping on the issue of tax sovereignty and asking her to clarify the position.

Udre stressed she was for maintaining the current system of tax independence among EU member states.

Udre was nominated as commissioner-designate by Prime Minister Indulis Emsis, a fellow Green party member, after the latter decided not to support Sandra Kalniete, who had been nominated by the previous government.