Another
Barroso commissioner under fire
Benita
Ferrero-Waldner took up a new job the same month she had quit her
post.
By CYNTHIA KROET
10/7/16, 3:28 PM CET Updated 10/7/16, 3:39 PM CET
Dutch newspaper De
Volkskrant reported on Friday that Austria’s former European
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner had taken a job with Spanish wind
turbine exporter Gamesa the same month she had quit the Commission in
2010.
Former Commission
President José Manuel Barroso would have known about her decision,
but apparently had decided not to sanction her, according to the
report.
It’s the latest
incident that sheds light on a possible violation of Commission’s
rules during Barroso’s reign. European Commissioners are not
allowed to take up new jobs for 18 months after leaving their posts.
Ferrero-Waldner was
a commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood
policy from 2004-2009 in the first Barroso Commission. She was the
trade commissioner from 2009-2010, but quit when Barroso started his
second mandate. The same month, she started working at Gamesa.
In July 2013, the
Ombusman asked for a clarification from the Barroso Commission after
she had received details about a possible conflict over the job.
Contrary to advice from the independent ethical committee, the
Commission decided in February 2014 to drop any sanctions against
Ferrero-Waldner.
At the time, Barroso
accepted Ferrero-Waldner’s letter of apology in which she had
expressed regret over an “inconvenient situation” and stressed
that she’d never violate the Commission’s code of conduct.
Last month, Barroso
was asked to clarify his new job description with Goldman Sachs
investment bank that he started in July.
On Thursday, the
Commission confirmed that it had also authorized an independent
ethics panel to investigate former Dutch European Commissioner Neelie
Kroes’s links to the offshore companies in the Bahamas.
Authors:
Cynthia Kroet
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