Revolving door provides privileged access

This new report by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) report reviews the evolution of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and explains how we have arrived at such a lax system of oversight. This report then analyses, on the basis of internal Commission documents released under freedom of information rules, six cases to illustrate some of the deep-seated problems with the current procedure. It concludes with a detailed assessment of the Commission’s very weak draft proposal for a new Code of Conduct and ALTER-EU’s recommendations to effectively tackle the revolving door problem. The European Commission has for too long chosen to ignore public concern about these issues. It is now high time to act in the public interest and introduce a new Code of Conduct that secures the highest ethical standards and prevents conflicts of interest.

This new report by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) report reviews the evolution of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and explains how we have arrived at such a lax system of oversight. This report then analyses, on the basis of internal Commission documents released under freedom of information rules, six cases to illustrate some of the deep-seated problems with the current procedure. It concludes with a detailed assessment of the Commission’s very weak draft proposal for a new Code of Conduct and ALTER-EU’s recommendations to effectively tackle the revolving door problem.