EU commission has questions to answer over McCreevy's new job with Ryanair

Posted by Bronwen Maher on June 15, 2010 at 02:33 PM

Nessa Childers MEP has today told the European Commission that it has serious questions to answer over the appointment of former EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to the Board of Ryanair.
 
Speaking directly to the Commission at the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the Labour MEP for Leinster said: “The parachuting of Charlie McCreevy in to a lucrative new job on the board of Ryanair has made a mockery of the European Commission's own rules.
 
“Their own Code of Conduct stipulates that former Commissioners may not assume roles related to their previous portfolios for a period of at least one year after stepping down. This decision has not only succeeded in breaking the spirit of the Code but it has undermined the whole set of principles underpinning the Code for post-office employment of former Commissioners.
 
"The McCreevy affair illustrates why a set of clear and enforceable new rules with tough sanctions are needed to avoid any possibility of a conflict of interest between former Commissioners, their old portfolios and their new jobs in the private sector.
 
"I believe that if any former Commissioner is found to have broken the rules by accepting plum jobs in international boardrooms, then sanctions must be brought in up to and including the withholding of their generous pensions paid for by the European taxpayer.
 
"Shortcomings on how these decisions are made were illustrated in an independent study The Code of Conduct for Commissioners - Improving Effectiveness and Efficiency published by the European Parliament in 2009. One of the weaknesses outlined in the study is the ad-hoc nature of the Committee charged with deciding if a post-office position of employment if appropriate or compatible with former Commissioner duties.
 
"In light of all of these developments, I am demanding
* A review of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners for post-office employment;
* The introduction of a ‘cooling-off’ or ‘quarantine’ period of at least two years from their exit from the Commission, and;
* A more transparent procedure to assess whether or not post-office employment is compatible with previous areas of responsibility and spheres of influence on the Commission."

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