“Don't go through the revolving door”, transparency campaigners tell EU commissioners | ALTER-EU
“Don't go through the revolving door”, transparency campaigners tell EU commissioners
Press release issued by:
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU)
European
commissioners have been reminded of the need to avoid conflicts of
interest which undermine public trust in EU policy-making, as they near
the end of their term in office.
The
Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) [1]
has sent individual letters to every serving European commissioner to
remind them of their responsibilities under the revolving door rules.
[2]
When the last Barroso Commission left office in 2010, a number of
former commissioners went through the revolving door by taking private
sector jobs which raised concerns about the risk of conflicts of
interest. For example, Günter Verheugen who had been the European
commissioner for enterprise and industry founded the European Experience
Company, a consultancy firm together with his former head of cabinet
Petra Erler. Meanwhile, Charlie McCreevy who had been the European
commissioner for the internal market joined the boards of Ryanair,
Sentenial and the bank BNY Mellon. [3]
ALTER-EU is keen to ensure there is no repeat of these scandals when the current commissioners leave office later this year.
