QUESTIONS TO COMMISSIONER CAÑETE
1. Commissioner Cañete, you have had an unfortunate path before appearing before the
European Parliament. We would like to remind you that you did not include your shares in two oil
companies in your declaration of interests before the European Parliament. You sold these shares
to Miguel Domecq, your wife’s brother, just a few days before you had to undergo the evaluation
of suitability for becomingg a European Commissioner. Since then, your name has not been away
from controversy. While you were Minister of Agriculture in the Spanish government, the Spanish
Council of Ministers approved a tax amnesty for individuals and legal entities who own assets
outside Spain. The beneficiaries of this amnesty paid a tax rate of around 3%, much lower than the
Spanish income tax and savings tax rates. You voted in favour of this tax amnesty both in the
Council of Ministers and in the Spanish Parliament. Some weeks later your wife, Micaela Domecq,
benefited from the tax amnesty. Were you aware Mr. Commissioner that you were violating the
Spanish law when you voted for instead of abstaining? Did you urge, as an influential person close
to the Prime Minister, the approval of the tax amnesty?
2. Commissioner Cañete, according to our information, you managed, until you were
appointed Minister, a company controlled by "Havorad BV", a firm considered as a "front
company" by the Spanish tax authorities, with branches in Panama and Costa Rica. In fact, the
name of your wife, Micaela Domecq, is listed in the so-called “Panama Papers” as a shareholder of
Rinconada Investments Group, a Panama-based firm created in 2005, and was empowered to
approve its financial transactions. Why did you choose not to specify in your declaration of interest
of 2014 and 2015 the shares that your wife holds or at the time held in Rinconada Investments
Group while you did mention her shares in two other companies, namely "Agrícola Micaela
Domecq S.L" and "NOVA 19 S.L"? Could you please provide us with the documentation declaring
the existence of this opaque entity to the Spanish tax authorities? Could you confirm that the
money that your wife legalized through the Spanish tax amnesty in 2012 came from the companies
in Panama?
3. Commissioner Cañete, during your time as Minister of Agriculture, high officials
appointed directly by you, benefited building companies in exchange for money and presents, in a
clear violation of Spanish law. A Chief Executive Officer appointed by you, Arcadio Mateo, appears
among the many people that were arrested in relation to the case called “Acuamed”. He was sent
to prison after the police found 120,000 euros in 500 euro bills at his home. In relation to this case,
on the 24th February 2014, a few months before you were appointed Commissioner, you held a
meeting with the construction company FCC in your office. As a result of that meeting (as shown
in the judicial inquest) you decided to condone a debt of 40 million euros to the company, despite
the technical reports of the Ministry advising otherwise. On the 13thJune in Santander, you said
that all decisions that you took were backed by independent technical reports. Could you please
provide us with the independent technical reports and the technical reports of the Ministry of
Agriculture which supported your decision to condone the payment of 40 million to FCC for the
work in the Almanzora desalination plant?
Back-up questions
1. Commissioner Cañete, in May 2015 you, in your capacity as Commissioner for Climate Action
and Energy signed a positive opinion on behalf of the Commission to approve plans by Berkeley
Minera España to operate an opencast uranium mine in Retortillo, Salamanca. Do you know
who Berkeley's single lobbyist for dealing with the Commission in Brussels was at that time?
Can you tell us who Mr. Manuel Lamela is and what function he had in the Ministry of
Agriculture? When did Mr Manuel Lamela hold this function and what was your function at
that time? At the time of signing the opinion, were you aware of the fact that Mr Lamela
worked for Berkeley? Did you or your office have any contacts with Mr Lamela in the course of
negotiations leading to the outcome of the Commission’s decision regarding the uranium mine
in Retortillo?
2. Commissioner Cañete, what are your feelings about whom you have met most during your first
year in office? What are the instructions you gave regarding the priorities whom to meet from
your Cabinet? Who would you describe as your most valuable interlocutors when it comes to
stakeholder consultations? Do you consult civil society and by that we mean above all NGOs
and Trade Unions as much as you consult the private sector? Is the research of the Corporate
Europe Observatory correct when saying that during the first 11 months of office you and your
cabinet had 6 times more meetings with the private sector than with public interests groups
(269 vs 45)? Could you please tell us how do you personally ensure a proportionate
consultation of various stakeholders’ during decision-making processes in order to draw