By Martin Banks - 20th October 2010
Employment negotiations should not take place while the commissioner is still in office
ALTER-EU
Campaigners have called for "clearer and more detailed" scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest for the jobs and activities taken by former EU commissioners.
The demand comes in the wake of concern about a potential conflict of interest in the appointments of ex-commissioners such as Charlie McCreevy, former internal market commissioner, and ex-vice president Gunter Verheugen.
Both accepted jobs in the private sector after leaving their EU posts which campaigners say could be deemed as a conflict of interest with their former positions.
The current code of conduct for commissioners contains only a short, eight-sentence paragraph on the issue of conflicts of interest.
Brussels-based campaign group, the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in the EU, says "the revolving doors" cases of people like Verheugen and McCreevy "show that the rules need to be clearer and more detailed."
In a letter to the commission, ALTER-EU makes a number of recommendations aimed at tackling the issue.
It says there should be an extension of the "notification period" from one to three years.
"In fact notification should happen as soon as contract talks start. This could be defined as the point in which both the potential employer and commissioner have expressed mutual interest in employment opportunities.
"Ideally, employment negotiations should not take place while the commissioner is still in office."
It also says that the commission should introduce "far stricter scrutiny" of potential conflicts of interest.
"This would create a three-year cooling-off period and constitute effective safeguards against conflicts of interest," it says.
