Abstract

The recent appointment of the former President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso as non-­‐‑executive chairman and director of Goldman Sachs International (Goldmans) has raised significant concern of the citizens, officials and legal scholars in the EU.1 Even more concerning is the inadequate reponse of the EU authorities, and in particular the report of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee (the Ethical Committee) that found no wrongdoing and the failure of the Commission to take any decision on the matter, despite some public statements by its officials, including its current President, to the contrary. The Committee clearly misinterpreted the law – insofar as it refused to recognize the permanent nature of the duty of integrity of former Members as enshrined in the Treaty -­‐‑ as well as its own duties by providing a legal as opposed to an ethical assessment, thus pre-­‐‑empting the possibility of a referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The proposal for strengthening the ethical requirements for former Commissioners for the future only that was floated by Mr. Juncker in the press has not been even discussed in the College of the Commissioners and by now it is apparent that everybody in the Berlaymont is waiting for the whole issue to be forgotten.

Dernière modification

• 10/19/2024

Creator

• Pech, Laurent
• Paskalev, Vesco
• Alemanno, Alberto

Contributeurs

• Paskalev, Vesco
• Alemanno, Alberto
• Pech, Laurent

Contributor type

• Author

Subject

• Ethical issues
• Legal issues

Publisher

• The University of Hull

Language

• eng

Identifier

• hull:14600

Related item publisher

• The University of Hull

Resource type general

• Report