Published on 10.09.2019 at 16h54 by AFP

France’s pick for the European Commission was interviewed by police on Tuesday, sources close to the case told AFP, shortly after she was given a powerful economic brief in the new EU executive.

Sylvie Goulard visited the offices of France’s OCLCIFF anti-corruption force and gave a statement as a witness in an investigation into the allegedly fraudulent use of parliamentary assistants at the European Parliament, the sources said..

Her former party, Modem, is being investigated in France, while she has reimbursed costs of 45,000 euros ($50,000) to the parliament, where she was a member from 2009 to 2017.

Former French defence minister Goulard was named commissioner for the internal market on Tuesday, a post which will include a new “directorate general for the defence industry and space”.