The man who dared say ‘No' to Cresson?

Edith Cresson should have half her pension as a European Commissioner docked for bad behaviour, according to an advocate-general of the European Court of Justice. She currently receives €4,000 per month from her five-year reign as a commissioner from 24 January 1995 to 8 September 1999. In an opinion published last week he recommended the Court to punish the former prime minister of France for having tried to get jobs and contracts with the Commission for her friends, René Berthelot and Timm Riedinger.
One of the reasons why the advocate-general does not recommend complete withdrawal of her pension is that “some weight may be given to the fact that Mrs Cresson's attitude apparently found some support in the administrative culture within the Commission at the time”.
A poignant footnote points out that “although her first chef de cabinet did indeed warn her against recruiting Mr Berthelot, other services proved to be more willing to co-operate in complying with her wish”.
If this counts as an honourable mention, then we should record that the chef in question was François Lamoureux, who also worked with Cresson at the Matignon. The whistleblower Paul Van Buitenen took a less charitable view of the role played by the French-man, who leaves the Commission this month.