Mosley slams EU comments

Mosley has written to Commissioner Antonio Vitorino, demanding clarification of comments issued by his spokesman in the dispute over legislation that allows for easier extradition between EU member states. Team owners fear that in the event of a fatality, they could face legal problems such as the manslaughter charges brought against members of the Williams team following Ayrton Senna's death in Italy in 1994.

The spokesman for Vitorino, who is European Commissioner for Justice and Human Affairs, was widely quoted as saying that "Mr Mosley is not above the law" and that F1 teams have "woken up to the European Arrest Warrant too late" over the fight for a change in legislation.

In a letter dated today (January 22), a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, Mosley states: "Both allegations are unacceptable. The one implies that I wish to be above the law, which is untrue and libellous. The other is also false, in that teams and their representatives have had innumerable meetings with Commission officials on the European Arrest Warrant, culminating in a meeting on 7 July 2003 with the Director-General of your directorate, Mr Jonathan Faull, together with a member of your cabinet."

Mosley accused that Vitorino's spokesman had "clearly not made the slightest effort to ascertain the truth before speaking to the press". Mosley also sent a copy of the letter to Professor Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission.