By Martin Banks - 28th September 2010
The process, carried out primarily by an ad-hoc ethical committee, is superficial
ALTER-EU
The European commission has been urged to block the new jobs for former commissioners Charlie McCreevy and Günter Verheugen because of their alleged conflicts of interest.
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in the EU (Alter-EU) has called for the introduction of a three year "cooling-off" period for former commissioners.
The demand follows the controversy surrounding six former commissioners who have taken up employment in the private sector.
On Tuesday, Alter-EU published documents which it says show that the commission's existing checks are "inadequate and fail to prevent conflicts of interest."
Alter-EU is calling on the commission to re-examine the current employment of ex-commissioners Verheugen, McCreevy, and four others, and to swiftly introduce a stricter code of conduct for commissioners, including a three-year cooling-off period.
During this period former commissioners would not be allowed to take up any post that might constitute a conflict of interest with their former work.
Internal commission documents obtained under freedom of information rules and published by Alter-EU reveal the procedures used to approve the new posts for former commissioners, Verheugen, Joe Borg and Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
The alliance says the documents show that the process, carried out primarily by an ad-hoc ethical committee, is "superficial and lacks any serious assessment" of possible conflicts of interest. Statements from ex-commissioners appear to have been accepted without any further investigation, say Alter-EU.
Paul de Clerck from Alter-EU said, “The ethical committee is not doing its job properly. It accepted ex-commissioner Verheugen's claim that his job at the Royal Bank of Scotland does not involve lobbying, yet RBS clearly stated that they hired Verheugen for his experience and contacts in European politics. We need a better system here”.
Last week, Alter-EU launched an online petition, calling on the commission to block Verheugen’s involvement in the lobby firm European Experience Company, the latest of five private sector jobs taken up by Verheugen after leaving the commission in February.
Alter-EU also says it sees a clear risk of conflict of interest in the case of Benita Ferrero-Waldner who has taken jobs with Munich Re and Gamesa, both companies that are involved in the Desertec energy project.
They also question the latest position taken by McCreevy, commissioner for the internal market from 2004-2010, who last month joined the board of NBNK Investments PLC, an investment company which aims to buy banking assets that are being sold off after the financial crisis.
It says McCreevy's salary will reportedly be between €61,000 and €122,000 per year depending on NBNK achieving a major acquisition.
McCreevy is reported to hold 20,000 shares in the company. It is unclear whether McCreevy has informed the commission about this new job.
Olivier Hoedeman, also from Alter-EU said, “McCreevy's latest job move violates the existing code of conduct as the activities of NBNK clearly relate to the content of McCreevy's portfolio when he was commissioner.
While at the commission, McCreevy, who was responsible for developing EU banking regulations, was repeatedly criticised by MEPs for failing to impose strict regulations on the financial sector.
"It looks bad when the commissioner responsible for regulating the financial sector then takes up employment in that same sector," Hoedeman said.
"Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso promised more than a year ago that the commission would review its code of conduct. The string of recent scandals shows that further delay in upgrading the code of conduct is unacceptable," said Hoedeman.
