Activites apres cessagion de fonction d'un membre de la commission - Communication de M. le PRESIDENT
Paul de Clerck (Friends of the Earth Europe), speaking on behalf of the ALTER-EU coalition during a debate on conflicts of interest in Brussels, pointed out that this means that Verheugen is allowed to lobby any other Commission department, including DG Environment, DG Internal Market and many others which are all of interest for potential clients. As Enterprise Commissioner, Verheugen was involved in decisions on numerous issues that went beyond his own department, which means the restrictions are far too narrow. And only companies that have directly “benefited from individual decisions, grants or contracts” are off-limit as clients.
Not only are these restrictions narrow, they are virtually impossible to monitor, let alone enforce. The sad conclusion must be that the Commission has de facto given the green light to one of its most powerful former Commissioners to move straight into lobbying consultancy after his departure from the Commission, assisting wealthy firms to influence EU decision-making. It has shied away from blocking Verheugen from cashing in on the insider knowledge and the network that he developed while in the Commission.
