“Stop 2014 being year of revolving door!” say transparency campaigners | ALTER-EU
In 2009, revolvingdoors commissioners led to major scandal. Barroso action required to stop it happening again
“Stop 2014 being year of revolving door!” say transparency campaigners
Publication date:
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Press release issued by:
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU)
ALTER-EU
has today written to President Barroso to call for further reforms to
the revolving door rules before the current Commission leave office.
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) [1] has today urged President Barroso
to put in place new rules to prevent the current crop of European
commissioners from going through the revolving door in 2014. [2]
As the Barroso II Commission nears the end of its term in office,
transparency campaigners believe that the cooling-off period which
applies to former commissioners taking on lobby jobs should be extended
from 18 months to three years to prevent a repeat of the conflict of
interest scandals which dogged the end of the Barroso I Commission. [3]
MEPs on the Budgetary Control committee of the European Parliament
will today grill Catherine Day, Commission Secretary-General, [4] about
revolving doors and the urgent need to reform both the commissioners'
code of conduct and the ethical committee which applies the code. [5]
This follows the recent damning verdict from the European Ombudsman
about the Commission's decision to re-appoint tobacco lawyer Michel
Petite to the ethical committee. [6]
