Thursday

7th Dec 2023

Barroso bank job to face fresh EU scrutiny

  • EU ombudsman Emily O'Reilly and ex-president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, in 2014. (Photo: European Parliament)

EU ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has launched an inquiry into the European Commission's handling of its former president's appointment to Goldman Sachs bank.

She launched the probe on Tuesday (28 February) after a petition by Commission staff urged the current chief, Jean-Claude Juncker to take "exemplary measures" against his predecessor, Jose Manuel Barroso.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The petition, signed by 152,000, said Barroso’s decision to join the bank, which played dirty tricks in EU bank and sovereign debt crises, “dishonours the European civil service and the European Union as a whole”.

Staff handed over the signatures in October 2016 after overcoming an attempt by security guards to block them from entering their own workplace.

The commission never replied to their letter, however.

The malcontents then went to O’Reilly, who is responsible for investigating maladministration.

In a letter dated 24 February, she asked Juncker to reply to the petition and to shed light on whether the Commission took a "reasoned decision" on Barroso.

Juncker was asked to reply by 31 March.

O'Reilly also plans to look at the Commission’s internal ethics panel, Ahec, which said Barroso had not broken EU rules.

"Any understanding of the approach adopted by the commission in such cases will necessarily require an understanding of the role of the Ahec and of how it conducts its assessments,” she said in her letter.

Its critics say Ahec is made up of EU insiders and lacks teeth.

The Commission last year sharpened its code of conduct, extending the "cooling-off" periods in which former top officials must seek permission to take up a new job.

Goldman Sachs traded complex financial instruments called subprime mortgages, helping to cause the 2007 global financial crisis.

It also helped Greece to conceal the size of its debt before it joined the eurozone.

Magazine

Barrosogate and the revolt of public opinion

Just days after Britain's vote to leave the EU, the bloc was rocked by the news that commission ex-president, Jose Manuel Barroso, had landed a top job with Goldman Sachs.

Opinion

Barrosogate: What next?

Barrosogate is putting to the test an already weak oversight system of former EU commissioners and highlighting the limits of the lobbying regulatory regime.

Ombudsman asks for more details on Barroso case

Emily O'Reilly has asked the EU Commission to say what former commissioners should be allowed to do after they leave office and explain why it took no decision over its former president's controversial new job.

Interview

2007: Barroso: An insider's guide to the Lisbon Treaty

Jose Manuel Barroso was European Commission president before and after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in December 2009. He discusses how it impacted his work and the broader implications for an expanding European Union.

Opinion

Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence

What is obvious is that PiS put in place a set of interlocking safeguards for itself which, even after their political defeat in Poland, will render it very difficult for the new government to restore the rule of law.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  2. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  3. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  4. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?
  5. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  6. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  7. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  8. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us