Conflict of interest: EU still not tackling the revolving door of commissioners into private sector

Do you remember Verheugen, McCreevy, Borg, Michel, Ferrero-Waldner and Kuneva? Seasoned Brussels-watchers may recall that they were all commissioners in the Barosso I Commission – and that they also subsequently had spins through the revolving door into corporate jobs, which raised the risk of possible conflicts of interest. Günter Verheugen was the former European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, who founded the European Experience Company – a consultancy firm together with his former head of cabinet Petra Erler. Charlie McCreevy was the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, who was refused authorisation to join one bank but then joined another – BNY Mellon – once his notification period of 12 months had expired.