By Martin Banks - 15th March 2010
The contents of the letters are not exceptional so why are bits of them blanked out?
Paul de Clerck
The commission has come under fire over claims that is has tried to "censor" correspondence with the German car manufacture Porsche.
It comes in the wake of damning criticism of the commission's role in the long-running case by the European ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros.
He criticised the executive for its refusal to release three letters sent from Porsche to the environmental group, Friends of the Earth.
It has now emerged that the letters have finally been published - but with large parts of them blacked out.
That has incensed Friends of the Earth, whose coordinator Paul de Clerck told this website, "The contents of the letters are not exceptional so why are bits of them blanked out?
"Why has the commission behaved in this way? The information in the letters is not confidential so why refuse to publish it for so long?
"It is amazing to think that the commission, in acting this way, forced the ombudsman to take what for his is very rare action."
He added, "The whole situation is unsatisfactory."
Publication of the letters is the latest twist in a long-running saga between the various parties.
The letters related to a series of meetings between former EU commissioner Günter Verheugen, who at the time was responsible for the industry post, and car makers.
They were sent at a time of heightened concern in the car industry about the EU's intentions on restricting greenhouse gas emissions from cars.
One of the letters says, "Porsche is greatly disturbed by tendencies within the commission that could lead to our company compared with competitors."
Diamandouros, who last week accused the commission of not cooperating with him in good faith, told this website that his ongoing investigation into the case would continue.
No-one from the commission was immediately available for comment.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.