European Parliament votes to condemn Czech PM’s conflict of interest

Members of the European Parliament voted in favour of a resolution condeming Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's conflinct of interest after an earlier audit by the European Commission found him to still be in control of Agrofert, the company he founded but placed into trust funds upon pressure from the Czech lower-house.

The legaly non-binding motion, which calls on EU institutions and Czech authorities to be more watchful in providing subsidies to Agrofert, passed easily with 505 votes, only 30 MEPs voting against and 155 chose to abstain.

In April, the European Commission published the results of the final version of its audit which concluded that the Czech prime minister continues to influence the multi-billion crown corporation Agrofert he established, even after he was forced to place it into trust funds to meet a strict new conflict of interest law.

The Czech government disputes the conclusions of the report, arguing that Babiš’s transfer of control over the group to a trust fund is sufficient to avoid a conflict of interest and fully in line with Czech legislation. Finance Minister Alena Schillerová said previously that the government is considering a legal challenge to the audit report.