European commission in the dark over McCreevy's Ryanair job

Posted by Bronwen Maher on October 21, 2010 at 02:11 PM

Decision to allow Directorship appointment must be reviewed

Labour MEP Nessa Childers has called for the European Commission to review its decision earlier this year to approve the appointment of former Irish Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to the Board of Ryanair.

Speaking from Strasbourg, the Leinster MEP said: "After a meeting with Ryanair last week, I have now received confirmation from them that the Commission’s Ethics Committee has never been in contact with the company either before or after McCreevy’s appointment.

"That means that the Commission can not conceivably  know the precise activities of McCreevy on the Ryanair Board of Directors. If they do not know of his activities, other than his own version, then how could they so easily clear his appointment as not posing a potential conflict of interest? This ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach of Barroso’s Commissions has to end.

"Mr. McCreevy has already fallen foul of the Ethics Committee. Just two weeks ago, he was forced to step down from London based banking start-up NBNK after pressure from the Parliament meant that the Commission could not approve the post. McCreevy in this case did not inform the Commission of his shares with the bank, which could have meant substantial earnings.

“It must be clear now to the Commission that it cannot work on the basis of blind trust as regards lucrative post-Commission positions. Their own Code of Conduct states that they 'shall examine the nature of the planned occupation.' How can this be credible without seeking answers from Ryanair as to what his activities for them involve?

"McCreevy's portfolio involved supervising the EU's internal market rather than the transport sector. However, all decisions taken by the College of Commissioners are collective ones and during his time in office a number of moves were taken relating to this and other no-frills airlines, ranging from taking on airline websites that were alleged to have ripped off customers, to blocking Ryanair’s attempts to effectively buy Aer Lingus. Ryanair is currently lobbying the European institutions seeking to have air passenger rights watered down after been hit badly in the pocket by the ash cloud crisis earlier in the year.

"The Commission must use this groundbreaking event to fix its flawed rules and procedures around conflicts of interest arising from ex-Commissioners going through the revolving door. The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach and the lax approval regime for former Commissioner’s post-Brussels employment plans taken by Barosso’s Commission is no longer tenable.

"The Commission has announced that the revised Code of Conduct will be ready before the end of this year. It is crucial that this review fixes the serious problems that exist with the current Code. In the meantime, McCreevy's appointment to the Board of Ryanair must be reviewed."

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