Brussels, 13 July 2011 – The European Ombudsman has found that the European Commission "failed to adequately examine potential conflicts of interest" when it employed former MEP Pat Cox as a Special Adviser to Commissioner Meglena Kuneva from 2007 to 2009. The finding follows a complaint registered by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in February 2010. CEO raised concerns about a possible conflict with Cox's lobbying work for Microsoft, Michelin, Pfizer, lobby consultancy, APCO as well as his own lobby firm ‘’European Integration Solutions’’ (EIS).