Reforming the revolving door – A once in a Decade Opportunity

[T]he Staff Regulations are a crucial document as they contain ethics rules governing staff conduct during and after they leave office. Evidence from the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) and Corporate Europe Observatory show that some of these rules are not well-known, well-followed or well-implemented. This is particularly true for the rules governing the revolving door, when officials leave public office and join the Brussels lobby industry, or when lobbyists become public officials. The revolving door is at the heart of the close relationship between the EU institutions and big business, and the rules that are currently in place contain weaknesses, loopholes and to often appear to be ignored entirely.