By Lewis Crofts - 13th April 2004
Czech commissioner-designate Pavel Telicka has cited the “right to make mistakes” while being grilled by MEPs over his communist past.
During a European Parliament hearing, Telicka admitted being a communist in the late 1980s but pointed parliamentarians to his achievements since as proof of his rehabilitation.
“One has the right to make mistakes but what is important is what comes afterwards,” said Telicka.
“I have gone through a self-reflection,” said the Czech, stressing that he had declared in the early 1990s he “was prepared to take responsibility” for his communist past.
MEPs also probed the Czech on his knowledge of the health and consumer affairs portfolio in which he will be working for the next six months alongside commissioner David Byrne.
“I will not deviate a great deal from Byrne,” he claimed, but went on to oppose the Irish commissioner’s plan to let Brussels regulate national smoking bans in public places.
“This should not be regulated on the EU level,” he said of the bans, adding however that “the way smoking is regulated [at national level] is quite insufficient”.
Telicka – the youngest member of the new commissioner – also warned his future colleagues “I will not be a ‘baby-commissioner’”.
Making a reference to his love of rugby, he warned the current commissioners: “the strong players are often bitten by the lighter ones”.
Telicka will take up his post on May 1 and will serve until November when he will hoped to be reselected for the next five-year commission.
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