The current rector of the College of Europe in Bruges and former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Frederica Mogherini has been arrested along with two other suspects in an investigation into suspected fraud involving EU funds. VRT News has learned of Ms Mogherini’s arrest from reliable sources. The Federal Police Service carried out searches at the College of Europe and at the European Union's diplomatic service in Brussels on Tuesday morning.
College of Europe in Bruges and the European External Action Service in Brussels searched as part of fraud investigation
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The European Public Prosecutor's Office, the EPPO, gave the Federal Police the task of carrying out searches of several buildings on the College of Europe Campus in Bruges, the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels and at the suspects’ homes. The European anti-fraud service OLAF is assisting in the investigation.
The investigation centres around the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a 9-month training programme for junior diplomats from EU member states. During the 2021-2022 academic year the College of Europe was tasked with providing the training programme that had been put out to tender.
The investigation focuses on whether the College of Europe was aware of the selection criteria for the tender procedure in advance, even before the official publication of the tender by the European diplomatic service.
‘There are serious suspicions that Article 169 of the EU Financial Regulation, on fair competition, was violated during the tender procedure and that confidential information about the tender was shared with one of the candidates,’ according to the public prosecutor's office.
Big name in European politics
One of the three people arrested is Italian Federica Mogherini. She is currently rector of the College of Europe and director of the diplomatic academy. Between 2014 and 2019, she was the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, one of the EU’s highest positions. She was also vice-president of the European Commission.
Previously, Ms Mogherini was a member of parliament and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Italian social democratic party. She was appointed rector of the College of Europe in 2020.
The other two suspects arrested also hold top positions in European diplomacy.
The College of Europe and EEAS
The College of Europe is a bilingual (English and French) independent postgraduate academic institute offering specialised European master's programmes. The College has campuses in Bruges, Natolin (Poland) and Tirana (Albania). The Bruges campus attracts around 400 new students every year.
The Italian Federica Mogherini is the rector of the College. Between 2014 and 2019, she was the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, one of the positions within the European Institutions.
The European External Action Service (EEAS) is an EU body that supports the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The service is based in the European quarter in Brussels.