In a letter released on Sunday by the European Ombudsman who has been pressuring Juncker to inquire into how Barroso plans to help the USA investment bank deal with Brexit, European Commission President Juncker said he was formally asking the former Portuguese premier to “clarify” his role at Goldman.
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Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has launched an unprecedented ethics investigation into his predecessor who plans to help the USA investment bank deal with Brexit.
Juncker, in his letter, stressed that Barroso would not be received in the Commission as a former president but as a lobbyist like any other and his dealings would have to be logged in the public register. She asked whether the commission’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and other officials would be advised on how or whether to engage with Barroso.
Jose Manuel Barroso is joining the company as nonexecutive chairman, Goldman Sachs announced in July.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.
“Because it involves a former president of the Commission”, Juncker wrote, the Commission’s chief administrator asked Barroso “to provide clarifications on his new responsibilities and the terms of reference of his contract, on which I will seek advice of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee”.
Critics argue that Barroso’s decision to join Goldman is likely to bolster anti-European feelings at a time when EU governments and institutions are attempting to navigate Brexit and a refugee crisis.
Jose Manuel Barroso (R) headed the European Commission from 2004 to 2014.
Under EU rules, commission officials have a duty to “behave with integrity and discretion” once they have ceased to hold high office.
In 2001, Goldman Sachs helped Greece to cover up the extent of its debt level, meaning that Athens could take on additional loans up to unsustainable levels.
That EU committee has three members – a Dutch former judge at the European Court of Justice, a German former MEP and an Austrian former director-general in the European Commission. He was also the Prime Minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004. Previously, the Commission had ruled Barroso’s appointment did not breach the code of conduct, since he had been retired for 18 months before taking the position.
Carl Dolan, director of Transparency International’s European Union office, described the decision to call the ethics committee as “a small victory” for the thousands of European Union citizens, including commission staff, that had signed the petition.
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly and Transparency International both welcomed what they described as a positive first step, but said public trust in the EU executive was at stake in its handling of the affair.
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Barroso’s successor at the commission’s helm, Jean-Claude Juncker, made known that Barroso’s new job will mean he no longer profits from VIP rights during his visits to Brussels.
