Always-dodgy EU-fantatic Jean-Claude Juncker was ousted as Luxembourg’s Prime Minister in 2013 after a string of wiretap allegations erupted into a full-blown spy scandal – and now a new criminal investigation threatens to bring him down again. A Luxembourg judge has launched a probe into whether officials working for then Prime Minister Juncker falsified evidence for parliamentary and judicial inquiries. The scandal surrounds Juncker’s alleged misuse of Luxembourg’s MI5, the Service de Renseignement de l’État Luxembourgeois (SREL), which was under the authority of his office. It was claimed that during Juncker’s tenure:

• The SREL illegally bugged politicians, which Juncker failed to stop;
• Juncker gave spies permission to intercept the telephone calls of their own sources, one of whom said they had a recording of a conversation between Juncker and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg;
• Marco Mille, SREL’s former director, claimed he had a recording made on a ‘James Bond’ wristwatch that proved Juncker had given his permission for the phone-tapping;
• SREL officers bought cars for private use using public cash;
• Mr Juncker appointed his driver as a spy after he told the PM he wanted a more exciting life.

Juncker is now facing accusations that his former officials gave false evidence under oath during the official investigations into the scandal. Last month Juncker said he was too busy to attend a cross-examination – pressure is now being put on him to testify. A Commission spokesman said: “He is very willing to testify as a witness but it happens that he is also president of the EC, so we have to find a date that matches his institutional obligations.” Juncker’s evasiveness tells its own tale…