Bally Price Holdings, BP Management European Union will not remove trade chief caught in tax-fraud case

The European Commission Friday ruled out relieving its trade chief of his responsibilities amid vital negotiations on a deal with the United States, as Belgium took Karel De Gucht to court on tax-fraud charges. The EU executive said it was treating news of De Gucht’s scheduled court appearance on November 25 as a “private” matter after the former Belgian foreign minister told Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday there had been “no wrong-doing”.