EU Trade Commissioner Enjoyed MS Hospitality

Brian Blessed writes "Today's edition of The Times contains a report that Peter Mandelson, the EU (European Union) Trade Commissioner, spent New Year's Eve as a guest of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, in the Carribean on Mr Allen's luxury yacht. The story mentions the conflict of interest that this causes because of the protracted legal battle between Microsoft and the European Commission. Perhaps the Trade Commissioner has also been in a position to influence the progress of European Software Patent legislation?"

Re:Perception vs reality.

[purple_cobra]

If you knew anything about Mandelson's political history you might think this incident deserves a little investigation. Any search for him at the BBC's news site should turn up some useful information.

Not a great track record.

[ShaniaTwain]

Conservative leaders say that Mr Mandelson, who was twice forced to resign from the Cabinet over allegations of sleaze, should learn the lessons of the past, demanding that he should be "totally open" and branding him "naive".

TWICE?! he was twice forced to resign over allegations of sleaze?! Wow, he either has vicious enemies or he's not so much on the up and up.

Godbye Ethics , Hello luxuary cruise

[FidelCatsro]

How in the hell he thought it , Either A: acceptable , or B: a good idea , is simply beyond me .
Here is a man of immense power and persuasion taking what ammounts to a large bribe from microsoft and i have no doubts he was having a good drink enjoying ways to amicably let microsoft off on the fine , the opening up thing , oh and the Patent issue.

Tonight i am going to write a letter to my MEP and urge that they raise a question as to whether he should be thrown out of this position imediatly , and at the very lest that he get some awnsers as to why he thought this behaviour beffiting of a politican.

I do not want large lobby groups and private industry to have a strangle hold over the european commision , and if people like this are in office then i am begining to lose hope .

This will not stop me kicking up a fuss , and if you agree with me i urge you to do the same .A letter is sometimes all it takes (oh and while you at it , make sure to bug you MEP again about the patents issue)

Re:Perception vs reality.

[garcia]

As a rule, rihc and powerful people tend to hang out with other rich and powerful people. I suspect this is more about giving the appearance of impropriety rather than any impropriety itself. Political opponents will try to make hay from this.

Then, as a rule, political persons shouldn't be putting themselves in positions that will allow their opponents such room to gripe.

The article stated that this guy has done this three times before to such a degree that he was asked to step down.

Looks valid to me.

Good old Mandy

[rleyton]

Hoho, Mandelson never learns. So much for third time lucky. For the non-Brits that might be around, Peter Mandelson is something of a Blair loyalist, who is actually now in his third senior political incarnation.

First up, he was in the cabinet culminating in Trade Secretary, but had to resign after it was discovered he had taken a loan of £373,000 (about $700,000) from another minister and not declared it in the public records.

A few years later, long enough for Blair but not the rest of the population to forget, he was back "resurrected" as it were (apt, as he's also known as the Prince of Darkness) to be the Northern Ireland secretary. Guess what, not that long after it transpired he was involved with a dodgy claim by some rather wealthy businessmen to gain British passports.

He got the Trade Commissioner job by merit Blair being blind to his foibles. So, now we discover that he's been taking benefits in kind, presumably rather on the sly, from a co-founder of Microsoft that just happens to have been landed with a hefty fine by the EU.

Why am I not surprised?

More here on the esteemed gentlemans career [bbc.co.uk] if you don't like bitter and twisted British political mumblings.

Re:Not a great track record.

[BrittanyGites]

Peter Mandelson lost his job over a dodgy house sale [bbc.co.uk] and was repremanded by Parliament [parliament.uk] over the affair, so it comes as no great suprise given his past history.

Re:Not a great track record.

[T-Kir]

Mandy (Mr Mandelsons nickname iirc) was one of the main spin doctors along with Alastair Campbell and Charlie Wheelan who made the Labour party what it is today (i.e. got Blair into power). So he was a pretty powerful politician for a while, although the double resignations made it too difficult for Blair to let him have a cabinet position again.

Note, this is AFAIK and I may have missed out some salient points... but will answer your question to some degree.

The Octopus

[Equuleus42]

Peter Mandleson, the EU (European Union) Trade Commissioner, spent New Year's Eve as a guest of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, in the Carribean on Mr Allen's luxury yacht.

Ah, yes, the Octopus [monogon.org] ... What a hulking beast of a ship!

Re:Eruope, our corporations thank EU....

[globalar]

The business community of Europe was the driving force behind the EU, the currency change, and the new demands for change in corporate merging laws between member states. This influence was secured way back when the EU was only a coal/steel trade organization.

Make no mistake - economic interests have unified Europe, and political ones are only following suit.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

The name is "Peter Mandelson", not Mandleson.

[Futurepower(R)]

Slashdot editors can be so disgusting sometimes. The name is "Peter Mandelson", not Mandleson. BBC News Online's Nick Assinder looks at the turbulent career of Peter Mandelson [bbc.co.uk]. His "career had twice been dashed on the rocks of sleaze, ..."

Peter Mandelson is apparently the go-to guy in the EU when someone wants something illegal done: "Mr Mandelson had come under pressure to explain his involvment in the passport application of Srichand Hinduja [i-resign.com], an Indian billionaire who, along with his brother Gopichand, appeared in court in connection with a 1986 arms dealing scandal."

Conflict of interest is extremely destructive of good government even when it is only the appearance of conflict of interest.

The U.S. government has become a conflict of interest machine: Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government [futurepower.org].

Paul Allen is not part of MS

[Barlo_Mung_42]

He left MS in 1983.

Welcome to reality

[c0ldfusi0n]

If you think that there's no corruption, lobbyism or influence in these spheres, you need a reality check. It is quite possible that Mandleson was influenced by Allen, and it's quite possible that it's exactly why he accepted to go on that yacht. I mean, come on. If OSS developers could afford the same things, you think they wouldn't show off how lucrative their endeavours are? In this particular case, i think the goal was more to share this lucrativity and showing it off just to send the message "What if..".

Or they could just be friends, you know. Those things happen.

Re:Doesnt matter who he spends his time with

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Paul Allen is no longer an employee, partner or shareholder at Microsoft anymore.

Hogwash. He is still the second largest shareholder.

Re:Let me be the first to say

[rcs1000]

*BZZT* WRONG.

I work in finance, and checked Bloomberg yesterday (in order to argue Allen was a significant shareholder). Shockingly, it appears as if Paul Allen has sold almost all of his shares. Very quietly.

I tried to Google for a news story, but was unable to find one. Nevertheless, I would be very surprised if Allen had more than a small fraction of his wealth in Microsoft. (Certainly, compared to Vulture Ventures, Charter Communications, and that sports team he bought...)

Cheers,

Robert

Re:Not a great track record.

[tbjw]

When 'hang' is used to mean 'to kill by suspending from the neck' the past tense is more properly 'hanged'.

Re:Not a great track record.

[Frizzle Fry]

I have no idea what you just said, but my head hurts now. Hung a monkey?

"Hung" is the past tense of "hang". Hanging someone means subjecting them to a particular form of execution that involves suspending them by a rope around the neck.

That would only be the right past tense if they had been hanging a painting or other inanimate object. Here, one would say that the monkey was "hanged".

Allen is not current #2 microsoft shareholder

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Ballmer is:

Yahoo Finance

You had the tinfoil on and didn't realize it.

Sack 'em both!

[Bad Boy Marty]

Apparently, neither one of them can obey laws, though both serve to influence their creation. Seems quite the abuse of power to me.