European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s husband did not break any conflict of interest rules by working for a company that received money from the European Union, European Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova said in a letter to environmental MEPs who expressed their concerns about Rohl Heiko von der Leyen in a biotechnology company financed by European funds, News.ro reports with reference to POLITICO.

The EU representative responded to a letter sent by eight MEPs from the Greens/European Free Alliance group in December. The European parliamentarians drew attention to how the American biotechnology company Orgenesis, whose scientific director is Heiko von der Leyen, even twice benefited from European money.

Last year, the Italian subsidiary Orgenesis joined an EU-funded gene and cell therapy project. Heiko von der Leyen, a doctor by profession, was elected to the supervisory board of the project. He resigned after his role was highlighted by the Italian press. The public declaration of interests of the president of the European Commission initially did not mention the presence of her husband on the board of directors and was updated only after it was reported by the Italian press.

Separately, a consortium of companies led by one of Orgenesis’ other subsidiaries, MIDA Biotech, received €4 million from the EU’s Horizon research programme. MEPs did not directly accuse the biotech company of wrongdoing, but expressed “concern” about Orgenesis’ participation in EU projects and asked Commissioner Viru Jourova to look into it.

In his response, the Transparency Commissioner denied that both cases were a breach of EU rules. In the case of the Italian project, the commissioner wrote that Heiko von der Leyen joined the supervisory board only after the company had been selected to participate.

“Both Orgenesis Inc. and Prof. Dr. von der Leyen stated that he was not involved in the grant application and award process. Thus, the conflict of interests of the president can also be excluded for this reason,” the letter shows.

Regarding the project in which MIDA Biotech participated, Jourova clarified that the agency responsible for the grant is the European Innovation Council and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EISMEA). The commission and commission president are not involved in “such individual award decisions” and therefore there is no conflict of interest, the transparency commissioner said. However, EISMEA was created by the Commission and manages EU funds, POLITICO notes.

The letters were sent in the context of a new effort in Brussels to ensure transparency in the wake of the “Qatargate, money versus influence” scandal. Recently, attention has been drawn to the fact that the head of the European Commission’s transport department approved his own free flights to Qatar, writes POLITICO.

“Trust in the institutions of the European Union and the observance of the highest standards of ethical behavior is a concern that the Commission fully shares,” assured Commissioner Vira Jourova.