EU commission condemned over new 'ethics' code for ex-commissioners

Publication date: 
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Author: 
Martin Banks
Media title: 
TheParliament.com

A draft ethics code for former EU commissioners has been branded a "half measure" which will not end the "revolving door scandals."

Excerpt: 

The commission’s new draft code of conduct is designed to address cases where former commissioners exploit their inside knowledge and contacts by taking up lobbying jobs for industry. But the campaign group, Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation in the EU (ALTER-EU), said the draft in its current form would not prevent commissioners from "going through the revolving door" in future, and called on the European parliament to improve the code in order to "close the loopholes and make sure that all lobby jobs are banned for a period of three years."