WRITTEN QUESTION E-3713/01

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 January 2002)

Subject: Former Commission employees' consultancies

The former Commissioner Martin Bangemann went into the private sector and became a highly paid consultant and board member of Telefonica, the Spanish telecoms business. Mr Bangemann's network of contacts and the knowledge he gained as a Member of the Commission were considered very valuable and naturally gave Telefonica an advantage. A debate started up on the posts it was appropriate for former members of the Commission to hold.

However, former directors-general and their deputies also go on at least as often to become highly paid consultants in industry straight after leaving the Commission, and there are also straight exchanges between the Commission and industry. A former Commission employee is, of course, not the property of the Commission. But there must be some requirements ensuring that confidential information such people obtain when working for the Commission is not used in such a way as to distort competition in the internal market after they have left the Commission.

Has the Commission come up with an ethical rule governing the jobs former directors-general and their deputies may hold after leaving the Commission?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2002)

The obligations of integrity and discretion that have to be observed by all former permanent officials and other servants who have left the service are clearly set out in Articles 16 and 17 of the Staff Regulations. They provide the main definition of ethical principles to be adhered to by former Staff.

When retiring, staff are reminded of these principles in the Vade Mecum associated with the pension scheme, which specifically requires permanent officials and other servants not to accept any position or task which would be incompatible with the interests of the Union. If, within the first three years after departure from employment, a retired permanent official or other servant has any doubts about whether a planned activity conforms with these rules, they must notify the Commission accordingly. Such notifications are considered on a case by case basis and the process for doing that includes consideration by the Legal Service, the Secretariat-General and the relevant Directorates-General, particularly the one in which the official/other servant in question last worked. The Commission only approves of a former official or other servant undertaking an activity if it concludes that the activity planned by the person will not conflict with the interests of the Commission.

In the context of its proposed Reform of the Staff Regulations the Commission has concluded that the present system is not always easy to apply in practice and that, accordingly, Article 16 of the Staff Regulations needs substantial revision. On 20 December 2001 the Commission adopted a draft proposal for a Council Regulation amending the Staff Regulations and the proposal includes modifications to Article 16(1). That proposal would require the creation of a general obligation to inform the Institution about the activity or occupation that the official proposes to take up after leaving the service, and the development of criteria for determining whether the proposed activity could involve a conflict of interest.

As required by law, the Commission transmitted its draft proposal on 1 February 2002 to the Inter-institutional Staff Regulations Committee requesting the Committee's opinion before the end of March 2002. The Commission will take due account of the opinion before formally transmitting its proposal, in revised form if necessary, to the Council and to the Parliament.

(1) The text is available on the Commission's reform site (http://www.cc.cec/home/admref/en/index.html).