That, after outgoing PM Alenka Bratušek nominated herself for the position. The cabinet of the outgoing PM says the procedure was carried out according to normal practice.

The Corruption Prevention Commission launched the investigation at its own initiative. It aims to determine possible violations of Article 37 in the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act. Article 37 states that an official person shall pay attention to any actual or possible conflict of interest and shall make every effort to avoid it. It continues to state that an official person may not use his office or post to advance his personal interests or the personal interests of another person.

The proposal of three commission candidates
Last week the outgoing government acquainted itself with the proposal of the outgoing PM, Alenka Bratušek, to send a list of more candidates for Slovenia's European Commissioner. On that list are the president of the DeSUS Pensioner's Party Karl Erjavec, MEP Tanja Fajon, who is from the ranks of the Social Democrats SD Party, and Alenka Bratušek.

"Not a case of private interest"
The cabinet of the outgoing PM told MMC that it was informed with the investigation of the Corruption Prevention Commission. The cabinet said it was confident that the proceedings for proposing the candidates were carried out in an adequate and appropriate manner. The cabinet continues to say that there was no violation of Article 37. "The post of EU Commissioner is a political post and not a case of private interest. It was determined that all of the candidates met the necessary criteria to be named as European Commissioner. The list of candidates was put together on the basis of proposals put forward by coalition parties. The proposal of the new party of the most likely PM-designate, Miro Cerar, was also taken into account. Miro Cerar's SMC Party proposed Mr. Janez Potočnik. However Mr. Potočnik sadly withdrew his consent for the candidacy. The remaining three candidates accepted their nominations, and that's how we got to the final list of three candidates."

The cabinet also emphasized that the list was merely a Slovenian proposal and not a decision for naming a person for a certain position. In the final stage all of the European Commissioners will have to be confirmed by the European Parliament.

Who is the one that proposed the PM?
Društvo Integriteta - Transparency International Slovenia has an opposite opinion. According to them it is disputable, from an integrity point of view, that the public has been left without any concrete information or explanation from the government about the whole procedure and about who proposed the outgoing PM Alenka Bratušek and the other two candidates. The public knows nothing about who decided on the candidates and how big an influence the PM had on the final decision. The NGO adds that only on the basis of that information, can the public judge whether the whole procedure was lawful and ethical.

Government complications
The outgoing Interior Minister Gregor Virant was one minister that did not agree with the government's proposals for Slovenia's European Commissioner. Unhappy with the proposal he left the government session early. Outgoing Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec was not present at the session.

Last Wednesday the STA news agency, quoting anonymous diplomatic sources in Brussels, reported that the next European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, favoured Alenka Bratušek as a candidate for Slovenia's EU Commissioner.