Czech PM rejects leaked Commission report on conflict of interest

Andrej Babiš faces scrutiny for his ties to an agricultural conglomerate that has received millions in EU funds.

PRAGUE — Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš fired back against reports that the European Commission found his ties to an agricultural conglomerate represented a conflict of interest, saying such a conclusion would be “absurd.”

Several Czech media outlets over the weekend and on Monday published in full what they reported to be the Commission’s final audit report looking into Babiš’s continued links to the conglomerate Agrofert, which he founded and which last year raked in an estimated €82 million in EU subsidies. Critics have argued this represents a conflict of interest while Babiš negotiates the bloc’s budget with other EU leaders.

According to the media reports, the final assessment confirmed a preliminary analysis, released in May, which had determined that the prime minister still has ties to his businesses while involved in decisions that could affect EU subsidies.

In a statement to POLITICO, Babiš said he does not “and cannot know what is in the report. The only thing I know is that if the Commission reaches a conclusion in which it attempts to explain [away] the relevant Czech legislation, such a conclusion would be absurd in my eyes.”

He added that he had fully respected “Lex Babiš,” a 2017 amendment to the Czech law on conflicts of interest passed specifically to enable the prime minister to place Agrofert — a sprawling chemicals, agriculture and media empire — in a trust while he is in office.

“Lex Babiš was drafted by Czech politicians with the sole purpose of targeting my person, and I put my former companies in trust funds, exactly according to this law,” he said.

Watchdog groups including Transparency International, however, have argued Babiš — one of the richest men in the Czech Republic — is still “the founder and 100% end-user of benefits” of the two trusts overseeing the firm.

A Commission spokesperson would not confirm the content of the report, but told journalists in Brussels on Monday that the Commission had on Friday sent the final audit in English to Czech authorities. Once Prague receives the Czech version of the audit from the Commission, authorities will have two months to respond, explaining how they intend to implement the report’s recommendations.

If the Czech response does not satisfy the Commission, the government may be forced to return as much as €17.6 million in subsidies to the EU.

The head of the Czech Pirate Party, Ivan Bartoš, has demanded that the Prague government publish the full audit and that Czech MPs be allowed to take part in its processing, local media reported.

“As there were immediate attempts to suppress and downplay the results of the audit, I asked the chairmen of parliamentary parties for a joint meeting to coordinate the procedure,” Bartoš said. He called for the audit committee of the Chamber of Deputies to be allowed to deal with it, and that it appear as a special item on the plenary agenda.

However, the Commission spokesperson said the report is still “confidential” and Brussels does not grant public access requests to audits while the process is ongoing.

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