The Belgian Minister for Civil Service, Public Enterprises, Telecommunications and Post Services is under fire over links between her Department and postal company, Bpost.
Petra De Sutter was forced to answer questions in Parliament after it was revealed that two Bpost employees had been working on secondment at her Ministry since 2020.
One was an adviser for the postal sector and digitisation, the other for legal matters that included negotiations between Bpost — majority-owned by the State — and the Ministry on new management contracts.
Both workers continued to be paid by Bpost, raising alarms over a potential conflict of interest.
The Minister said she had now dismissed the two workers but said it had been common practice to bring in staff from Bpost because her Ministry did not have experts in the postal sector.
She later told journalists that it was now clear such ties had to be cut and wanted legislation in place to ban the practice.
However, she defended the two employees, saying they never took or influenced political decisions, which were her responsibility.
Bpost is already mired in controversy for awarding lucrative contracts to consultants without issuing a call for tenders, as required by law.
Bpost justified the action by saying the required tasks were urgent and needed specific expertise.
However, journalists have revealed that some of Bpost’s managers and directors had previously worked for the consultant.
Ms De Sutter (pictured) said she had only found out about that in the press.
Brussels, 13 May 2023
