The former vice-president of the European Commission and head of the bloc's foreign service, Federica Mogherini, is being held by authorities amid a police investigation into alleged misuse of EU funds, Belgian and French media reported on Tuesday.
Belgian police have carried out searches at the headquarters of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels, of which Mogherini was chief from 2014-2019, and the College of Europe in Bruges, where she has been rector since 2020. Several private residences have also been searched, Reuters reported citing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Police have seized documents and detained three people on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and criminal conflict of interest, according to sources familiar with the case cited by Euractive. Belgian outlet L’Echo reported that Mogherini was among the detained.
Senior EU official Stefano Sannino, who served as secretary-general of the EEAS under Mogherini when the Diplomatic Academy was established and now heads the European Commission’s department for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, has also been taken into custody.
Another College of Europe employee from the executive education department was also detained, according to an unnamed person cited by Euractiv.
The probe reportedly focuses on the college’s €3.2 million ($3.7 million) purchase of a building on Spanjaardstraat in Bruges, in 2022, shortly before receiving €654,000 in funding from the EEAS. Authorities suspect the institution may have had access to confidential information, undermining fair competition. No formal charges have been filed so far.
Investigators are reportedly examining whether the college or its representatives had prior knowledge of a public tender for the EU Diplomatic Academy, a training program for European diplomats in Bruges funded by the EEAS.
The College of Europe, established in 1949, is considered the EU’s elite training ground for diplomats and civil servants, boasting alumni who have gone on to hold senior positions in European politics and institutions. The institution prepares university graduates from member states for possible EU careers.
