Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-leader of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, is investigating "rumours" of an alleged conflict of interest involving Roumyana Zheleva, Bulgaria’s candidate European Commissioner and currently the country’s Foreign Minister.
 
Zheleva has been named by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and European Commission President Jose Barroso for the next European Commission. Barroso has put her forward for the post of international co-operation, humanitarian aid and crisis response.
 
Interviewed by Bulgarian National Radio, Cohn-Bendit said that he had no particular allegations against Zheleva and that his statements were based on rumours only, according to a report by Bulgarian news agency Focus.
 
However, given that Bulgaria had a severe problem with corruption, it should be confirmed whether criticisms were justified. Cohn-Bendit said that he would thoroughly check the contents of her conflict of interest declaration, required for candidate Commissioners to complete.
 
Earlier media reports in Bulgaria said that the rumours surrounding Zheleva arose from the business interests of her husband in the Black Sea city of Bourgas.
 
Joseph Daul, chairperson of the centre-right EPP group, the largest in the European Parliament and of which Zheleva was recently elected a deputy chairperson, told a news conference in Strasbourg that Zheleva's husband's dealings could create problems during a parliamentary hearing scheduled for January 2010, EurActiv said.
 
Daul said that there was a risk that the whole proposed European Commission could be rejected by the European Parliament.
 
According to the rules of European Parliament approval of a Commission, it must either accept or reject the entire package, but cannot refuse individual candidate Commissioners.
 
BNR reported earlier that there were concerns that if Zheleva failed to pass muster, the whole European Commission nominated to take office by February 2010 would be rejected by MEPs.
 
Cohn-Bendit said on December 15 that there were rumours about Zheleva and about the Hungarian nominee, László Andor.
 
Cohn-Bendit said that given the rumours about alleged links involving her husband and business associates, MEPs would not want to approve her, given the European Parliament’s demand for complete transparency in conflict of interest declarations.

Daul has defended Zheleva, saying that the allegations would be proven to be unfounded and were motivated by jealousy about her appointment.