European Commission: Politically untenable for Dalli to stay

A spokesman for the European Commission said today that the whole question of John Dalli’s resignation was over for the commission. “It is past, it occurred on Tuesday,” the spokesman said. He was replying to questions by journalists after Mr Dalli wrote to EU Commission President Jose' Manuel Barroso late yesterday saying there was no resignation since he had not sent any resignation letter. (See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121022/local/dalli-writes-to-barroso.442136 ) Olivier Bailly said Mr Dalli was asked to resign on the basis of a political assessment made by EU Commission President Jose' Manuel Barroso because his situation was ‘politically untenable’. That assessment was made on the basis of the OLAF investigation report, which was 'partly' revealed on Wednesday. Mr Barroso in line with his authority asked Mr Dalli to tender his resignation, and Mr Dalli resigned, the spokesman said. He told Mr Barroso that he would be resigning and then he said the same thing before the head of the legal service and the head of Mr Barroso's Cabinet. "The resignation was immediate". A resignation letter was not obligatory. Mr Bailly added that the Commission respected the...