Commissie wil gedragsregels aanscherpen naar aanleiding van 'draaideur-ambtenaren' (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is looking to improve its code of conduct in the wake of a slew of revolving-door' episodes in which retiring commissioners and officials have gone on to well-paid jobs in the private sector in areas close to the dossiers they oversaw when working for the Brussels machine.
While the commission ethics committee has given a pass to all the commissioners who have taken on such work, with the executive arguing that it cannot prevent civil servants from working for private companies when they leave the EU capital, the code is to be tightened to give it clearer language, EUobserver has learned.
Since the end of the first Barroso commission, six former commissioners in the last year have landed a number of plum positions.
Ex-industry commissioner Guenther Verheugen is now working for Royal Bank of Scotland, lobby outfit Fleishman Hillard and the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.
Austria's woman in the EU executive, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has taken a position with re-insurance giant Munich Re. Bulgaria's Meglena Kuneva works for French bank BNP Paribas. Irishman Charlie McCreevy, formerly internal market chief, has joined no-frills airline Ryanair. Belgium's Louis Michel, latterly Europe's development commissioner, is now with Credimo, a domestic mortgage firm.
And Malta's Joe Borg, the ex-maritime affairs head, is to advise Fipra, a lobby outfit specialising in, amongst other areas, maritime affairs.
In the most recent example, going further than simply joining someone else's lobbying consultancy, Mr Verheugen, a German Socialist, has decided to set up his own EU-focused public relations firm - The European Experience Company.
The company's website says that it will "not engage in any kind of lobbying activity." However, it offers "intensive management seminars for institutions and enterprises" with experts from European institutions. It also offers "analytical background papers and strategy recommendations" on EU policy.
The commission confirmed on Wednesday that it is to investigate the matter for any potential conflict of interest.
On 1 September, the day after the press revealed Mr Verheugen's new lobbying endeavour, the ex-commissioner notified Brussels of his plans.
Commission spokesman Michael Mann confirmed that the letter has been passed on to the EU executive's ad hoc ethics committee.
No details concerning a revision of the code have yet been revealed, but, according to Mr Mann, "[EU Commission President] Barroso wants to see if there is a need to improve the language, whether adjustments can be made based on the experience of the last year."
Brussels hopes to achieve such changes sometime after October, after an agreement with the European Parliament on institutional relations has been approved.
The president is hoping that a code of conduct can be crafted that covers all the institutions. Of the EU institutions, currently just the commission has a code of conduct.
As a result, some in the EU executive feel that it is unfair that it is commission officials who bear the brunt of criticism from transparency campaigners and the parliament itself when senior MEPs and committee chairs have also been known to take up similar jobs.