Transparency International calls on European Commission to avoid conflicts of interest

This debate was sparked when Benita Ferrero-Waldner of Austria (former Commissioner for external relations), Germany’s Günter Verheugen ( former Commissioner for enterprise and industry), Ireland’s Charlie McCreevy (former Commissioner for internal market) and Bulgaria’s Meglena Kuneva (former Commissioner for consumer protection), were hired in corporate jobs:

 Mr. McCreevy has recently been appointed to a position with Ryanair.
 Ms. Ferrero-Waldner has been elected to the supervisory board of a German insurance company, Munich Re.
 There have also been media reports that Mr. Verheugen has been hired by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
 Moreover, Ms. Kuneva has been appointed as a management board member at BNP Paribas and she has reportedly accepted a part-time position as political counsellor to European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas.

The European Commission has established an ad-hoc ethical committee, which approved Mr. McCreevy’s appointment. Decisions regarding the other former Commissioners are expected in the future.

In this context Transparency International (TI), an international NGO that advocates for transparency, warns of possible conflicts of interest and highlights that these companies may profit from the former roles of their new employees. They were hired less than one year after they had left the European Commission. In a press release TI recalled that, according to the European Commission’s Code of Conduct, former European Commissioners cannot take on roles related to their previous portfolios for at least a year after leaving the Commission.

TI also highlighted the lack of formal criteria that the ad-hoc ethical committee has to base its decisions on. These shortcomings were also emphasised in a recent independent study commissioned by the European Parliament’s budgetary control committee.

TI is requesting that the Code of Conduct for European Commissioners be re-examined. The organisation has proposed a waiting period of at least two years and calls for a more transparent procedure to determine whether post-office employment is in conflict with former Commission duties. Stricter enforcement is also recommended, for example withholding pensions from Commissioners in breach of the code, as well as using national sanctions where ethical conduct infringes on national or civil law.

For Further Information

 Transparency International calls for closing of ethics gap in Code of Conduct for European Commissioners
 The Code of Conduct for Commissioners - improving effectiveness and efficiency
 Code of conduct for Commissioners

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