A delegation from the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU) received the same treatment when trying to deliver a similar petition, signed by 63,000 people, moments later.
The two petitions have called for strong measures to be taken against Barroso, whose new employers were heavily implicated in both the global and the Greek financial crises.
They want to see Barroso’s pension rights forfeited and EU rules on the limits of conduct of former commissioners sharpened.
Under the current framework, EU officials are free to take up any job after a "cooling off" period of 18 months after they leave office.
Barroso's successor, Jean-Claude Juncker, has referred the case to an advisory ethics committee, but only after the EU ombudsman questioned whether he really had done everything to verity that the appointment was in line with the ethical obligations laid down in the EU treaties.
Juncker has also launched another probe on former competition commissioner Neelie Kroes, a member of Barroso’s cabinet, after leaked documents showed she had failed to declare directorship of an offshore company based in the Bahamas.
But NGOs say the EU executive should have acted when Kroes took up a job with tech firm Uber earlier this year after promoting their interests during her time in office.
Juncker has stated that the EU executive is mulling changes to the commissioners' code of conduct, but has yet to announce concrete proposals.
EU employees and NGOs say the commission is doing too little, too late.A delegation from the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU) received the same treatment when trying to deliver a similar petition, signed by 63,000 people, moments later.
The two petitions have called for strong measures to be taken against Barroso, whose new employers were heavily implicated in both the global and the Greek financial crises.
They want to see Barroso’s pension rights forfeited and EU rules on the limits of conduct of former commissioners sharpened.
Under the current framework, EU officials are free to take up any job after a "cooling off" period of 18 months after they leave office.
Barroso's successor, Jean-Claude Juncker, has referred the case to an advisory ethics committee, but only after the EU ombudsman questioned whether he really had done everything to verity that the appointment was in line with the ethical obligations laid down in the EU treaties.
Juncker has also launched another probe on former competition commissioner Neelie Kroes, a member of Barroso’s cabinet, after leaked documents showed she had failed to declare directorship of an offshore company based in the Bahamas.
But NGOs say the EU executive should have acted when Kroes took up a job with tech firm Uber earlier this year after promoting their interests during her time in office.
Juncker has stated that the EU executive is mulling changes to the commissioners' code of conduct, but has yet to announce concrete proposals.
EU employees and NGOs say the commission is doing too little, too late.
