EPO People Power - Part XXXV - Where Else Will Corruption and Substance Abuse be Tolerated?
Also see: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part Part XIV | Part XV | Part XVI | Part XVII | Part XVIII | Part XIX | Part XX | Part XXI | Part XXII | Part XXIII | Part XXIV | Part XXV | Part XXVI | Part XXVII | Part XXVIII | Part XXIX | Part XXX | Part XXXI | Part XXXII | Part XXXIII | Part XXXIV
We're nearly done with our round of "right of reply", so some time soon we'll kick off our next EPO series, which will leave some in the António Campinos 'cabinet' red-faced or white-nosed.
Benoît Battistelli was pushed out after 8 years (too many scandals) and this year Campinos might complete 8 years too (if he reaches July). His staff will hopefully apply maximal pressure.
To be clear here, upfront, what's at stake isn't the EPO alone but also Europe and the EU, as the previous part explained. To what extent can white-collar crime be tolerated provided crimes are committed by rich or well-connected (to complicit benefactors) men or women in suits?
Has Europe reverted back to kings? Are monarchs' roles reduced to shaking Battistelli's hands after he committed serious crimes and destroyed lives?
If we let the EPO scandals 'slide', we'll simply normalise corruption and lower the level of acceptability. We need to raise standards. █
