The European parliament yesterday cleared the EU commissioner Jacques Barrot of wrongdoing in failing to disclose an amnestied conviction for party funding offences, but said such details must be made public in future.
The revelation in the parliament last week that the French transport commissioner and vice-president of the EU executive had an undisclosed conviction in 2000 for embezzlement in France led to calls from some MEPs for his resignation.
But in a statement, the assembly head, Josep Borrell, said "a very large majority of the political groups" accepted legal opinion that Mr Barrot was not legally required to disclose the amnesty.
"In the future, the same majority believes that this kind of information should be brought to the attention of members during the course of hearings of the commissioners-designate," the statement added.