Goldman Sachs announced in early July its appointment of Barroso, who at 60 is a year younger than his successor Juncker, as an executive chairman of its international arm in London. It said he would advise the bank on handling Britain’s separation from the EU, likely to affect many investment markets.
Emily O’Reilly, who oversees transparency issues in the EU, said that “this is a significant public interest issue and must be openly and comprehensively addressed.”
Barroso respected the mandatory 18-month cooling-off period before joining Goldman Sachs but his move has faced criticism within the EU.
A petition criticising Barroso’s “morally reprehensible” behaviour, has attracted almost 140,000 signatures, and this week the EC president, Jean-Claude Juncker, launched an an unprecedented ethics investigation into whether any EU rules had been broken by Barroso
Juncker said he was formally asking the former Portuguese premier to “clarify” his role at Goldman.
An independent panel of senior former EU figures, including a judge and a member of parliament, would review the case, which the Commission has previously said did not appear to breach its code of conduct as Barroso had been retired for over 18 months.
EU treaty law states that former commissioners who fail to act with integrity in the taking of appointments after leaving the EU executive may be stripped of pension rights.
People who know Barroso said that he feels motivated to take the job after many years in public service and sees much of the criticism as coming from long-time political enemies on the left.
In a separate report, The Wall Street Journal quoted a spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs as saying: “Goldman Sachs and Mr. Barroso have adhered to all applicable legal rules and the highest ethical standards in his appointment.”
Barroso took issue with the warning from Juncker that he would not be received in EU institutions as a former president, but as an “interest representative”, subject to the same rules as other lobbyists.
“I have never sought a privileged position but I would not expect to be discriminated against,” Barroso said in his letter, adding that he wanted to know how a decision about his position had been made. “Not only are these actions discriminatory but they appear inconsistent with decisions taken in respect of other former members of the commission.”
A former prime minister of Portugal, Barroso said he had been careful to comply with the commission’s rules, adding that he had joined Goldman 20 months after his period office, longer than the 18-month cooling off period imposed on him.
“I am very clear about my ongoing responsibilities to the European institutions and naturally I will maintain my commitment to act with integrity and discretion,” he said.
“It has been claimed that the mere fact of working with Goldman Sachs raises questions of integrity. While I respect that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the rules are clear and they must be respected. These claims are baseless and wholly unmerited. They are discriminatory against me and against Goldman Sachs, a regulated company operating in the internal market.”
EU rules stipulate that commission officials have a duty to “behave with integrity and discretion” once they have ceased to hold high office.
Barroso’s role at Goldman sparked controversy in France, from the far-right leader Marine Le Pen and also the country’s Europe minister, Harlem Désir, who said the EU’s conflict of interest rules needed to be tightened.
Source: RT, The Guardian, Reuters
