EU: European Commission vice-president Günter Verheugen has dismissed as "complete defamation" allegations that he is engaged in a relationship with his cabinet chief and long-term friend. and that favouritism influenced her appointment earlier this year.
Three German publications printed photographs of Mr Verheugen (62), who is married, holding hands and hugging Petra Erler (48) during an August holiday in Lithuania.
"There was nothing more than a personal friendly relationship at the time of the appointment. The same is true today," said Mr Verheugen yesterday.
On Monday Ms Erler made the same comment to Focus magazine, in exactly the same words, after it published the photographs.
A commission spokesman has said that Ms Erler, a German economics lecturer, was fully qualified for her job as cabinet chief and that her appointment in April had followed all regulations.
Yesterday Mr Verheugen criticised the press coverage as an invasion of his privacy, claims rejected by Focus magazine. It said the photos originated with the Lithuanian newspaper that ran the pictures alongside an interview with Mr Verheugen and Ms Erler during their stay.
Brussels conspiracy theorists suspect the revelations are linked to Mr Verheugen's remarks last week that the 25 EU commissioners were engaged in a "permanent power struggle" with their own bureaucrats who view themselves as the real source of power in Brussels.
Opinion is divided in the Brussels rumour mill over whether his outburst prompted officials to draw journalists' attention to the photographs or whether his remarks were an attempt to distract from gossip about the nature of their relationship.
On Wednesday European Commission president José Manuel Barroso sought to shore up Mr Verheugen's position when he said the commissioner had all his confidence. He said Mr Verheugen had not broken any EU rules in the appointment.
However, EU sources say the disclosure has irritated Mr Barroso, who is relying on Mr Verheugen to drive forward the commission's deregulation policy to cut red tape for EU businesses.
Senior government figures in Berlin have come out in support of their most senior representative in Brussels, whom they hope will be a key figure when Germany assumes the EU presidency in 2007. Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Mr Verheugen, a fellow Social Democrat, was an "irreplaceable Brussels heavyweight". However, Christian Democrat MEP Herbert Reul told Bild newspaper yesterday that if Mr Verheugen resigned, the CDU claimed the right to appoint the next German commissioner.