RevolvingDoorWatch
RevolvingDoorWatch is a database of commissioners, MEPs and officials who have gone through the revolving door into lobby or industry jobs. Lobbyists who have taken jobs with the EU institutions are also featured. These cases raise big questions about whether the EU institutions are robust enough in recognising and acting upon the risk of conflicts of interest.
Contact us if you have info about new cases or follow #revolvingdoors
More info on the revolving door problem
RevolvingDoorWatch exposes how the EU institutions - the commission, parliament, council and agencies - fail to take effective action to block the revolving door. Brussels is home to one of the highest concentrations of political power in the world and the revolving door is one of the most important ways in which lobbyists can influence the political agenda in Brussels. When European decision-makers – commissioners, MEPs, officials - leave office and go into lobby jobs, or when lobbyists join the EU institutions, the risk of conflicts of interest can be great, undermining democratic, public-interest decision-making. It is the responsibility of the EU institutions to ensure that this does not happen. The EU institutions are not transparent about revolving doors, nor do they pro-actively publish information about how they monitor the revolving door.
RevolvingDoorWatch is a contribution to the ALTER-EU campaign to block the revolving door!
CEO and ALTER-EU demand tough, new rules to block the revolving door including:
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A revised Code of Conduct for Commissioners to include a three year cooling-off period for Commissioners taking lobby jobs (or any other job which provokes the risk of a conflict of interest) and a revamped Commission ethics committee
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A revised Code of Conduct for MEPs to include robust rules to regulate the revolving door
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Further changes to the EU's Staff Regulations to better regulate the revolving door to include a two year cooling off period for officials; three years for the most senior officials
| Name | Policy area | Former employer Sort descending | New employer | Date | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serge Abou France |
Business/Industry | DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), EU Ambassador to China | Huawei, Adviser | Jul 2013 | |
| Ivan Rogers Britain |
Finance | Barclays Capital, Head of the Public Sector Industry Group, UK and Ireland | UK Government, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union (from Nov 2013); previously Prime Minister's Adviser on Europe and Global Issues (to Nov 2013) | Oct 2011 | |
| Jean De Ruyt Belgium |
Trade | Belgium Permanent Representation to the EU, Permanent Representative + Chair of the Committee of Perm Reps, 2010 Belgian Presidency of the Council | Covington & Burling LLP, Senior European policy advisor | Jan 2012 | |
| Eoin O'Malley Ireland |
Trade | BusinessEurope, Senior adviser on international relations | European Commission, DG Trade, Policy officer | Jun 2010 | |
| Mårten Westrup Sweden |
Energy/Climate | BusinessEurope, Adviser - Industrial Affairs Committee (climate change) | DG Energy, Energy policy & monitoring of electricity, gas, coal and oil markets | Jun 2011 | |
| Eddy Wymeersch Belgium |
Finance | Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) , Chairman | Non‐executive director and senior advisor , Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) | Sep 2012 | |
| Eline Post Netherlands |
Competition | DG Competition, Case handler (since 2005) | Avisa Partners, Senior consultant on competition | Dec 2010 | |
| Jean-Philippe Monod de Froideville Netherlands |
Competition | DG Competition, Personal adviser to Commissioner Neelie Kroes (for 2 years) | Interel (lobby consultancy), Associate director for competition | Nov 2009 | |
| Pablo Asbo Argentina |
Competition | DG Competition (for 6 years), Case-handler | Avisa Partners , Associate director on competition | Mar 2011 | |
| Peter Faross Germany |
General | DG Energy, Acting deputy director general | UEAPME (Union Européenne de l’Artisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises) + Kaesler & Kollegen, Secretary-general + adviser | Jan 2014 | (updated) |
| Fanny-Pomme Langue France |
Energy/Climate | DG Energy, Policy Officer | European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), Policy Director | Jan 2013 | |
| Marcus Lippold |
Energy/Climate | DG Energy, Advisor – EU International energy relations | MOL Group + Saudi Aramco, Various | Aug 2013 | (updated) |
| Poppy Kalesi Greece |
Energy/Climate | DG Energy, Programme manager | Statoil, EU Regulatory Affairs Advisor (then Senior Consultant, Innovation Strategy) | Sep 2010 | |
| Johan Gabrielsson Sweden |
Tobacco | DG Enlargement, Project Manager - EU Policies | Swedish Match, Public Affairs Director | Oct 2011 | |
| Petra Erler Germany |
Business/Industry | DG Enterprise, Head of Cabinet, Commissioner Verheugen (for 4 years) | European Experience Company, Managing Director | Apr 2010 | |
| Mårten Westrup Sweden |
Energy/Climate | DG Enterprise (for 27 months), Policy officer and Legal officer | BusinessEurope, Adviser - Industrial Affairs Committee (climate change) | Oct 2010 | |
| Isabel Ortiz Spain |
Food | DG Enterprise and Industry, Policy Officer, Food Industry Unit (for 3 years) | FoodDrinkEurope (Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU), Director of Consumer Information, Diet and Health | Mar 2011 | |
| Mogens Peter Carl Denmark |
Environment | DG Environment, Director-General | Kreab Gavin Anderson (lobby consultancy), Senior Adviser | Feb 2010 | |
| John Bruton Ireland |
Foreign affairs | DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), EU Ambassador to the US (for 5 years) | Cabinet DN (lobby consultancy) + others, Senior adviser | Dec 2010 | |
| Bruno Dethomas France |
Foreign affairs | DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), Head of Eastern Partnership Taskforce | G+ Europe (lobby consultancy), Independent associate | Mar 2011 | |
| Jörgen Holmquist Sweden |
Finance | DG Internal Market and Services (MARKT), Director General DG MARKT | Interel, “Senior advisory role” in financial services practice | Oct 2012 | |
| Magnus Ovilius Sweden |
Security | DG Justice, Freedom and Security, Head of Sector, Preparedness and Crisis Management | Smiths Group, Senior Vice President Government Relations | Dec 2008 | |
| John Richardson Britain |
Maritime affairs | DG Maritime Affairs (for 35 years), Head of maritime policy taskforce | Fipra (lobby consultancy), Special adviser - maritime policy and diplomacy | Sep 2008 | |
| Derek Taylor Britain |
Energy/Climate | DG Transport and Energy, Energy adviser | Burson-Marsteller (lobby consultancy) + others, Adviser on energy issues | Aug 2009 | |
| Luc Werring Netherlands |
Energy/Climate | DG Transport and Energy (for 23 years), Principal adviser to the Director-General | Hill & Knowlton (lobby consultancy), Senior adviser on transport, energy and environment | Dec 2007 | |
| Harald Boerekamp Netherlands |
Development | DG-ECHO (Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection), Administrator (contract agent) | Interel European Affairs, Senior consultant | May 2012 | |
| Nikos Lavranos Netherlands |
Trade | Dutch ministry of economic affairs, agriculture & innovation, Senior policy advisor on trade | European federation for investment law and arbitration (EFILA), Secretary-general | Jul 2014 | |
| Edgar Meister Germany |
Finance | DWS Investment (investment branch of Deutsche Bank), Member of the supervisory board | European Central Bank, Member of the Administrative Board of Review | Nov 2014 | |
| Jan Eric Frydman Sweden |
Trade | Ekenberg & Andersson, Lawyer & partner | DG Trade, Special adviser for trade policy and transatlantic affairs | Mar 2015 | (updated) |
| Christian Thimann Germany |
Finance | European Central Bank, Counsellor to the President | Group Head of Strategy & Public Affairs + member of AXA’s Executive Committee , AXA | Jan 2014 | |
| Janez Potočnik Slovenia |
Environment | European Commission, Commissioner for the environment | Forum for the future of agriculture + others, Chairman | Dec 2014 | (updated) |
| Connie Hedegaard Denmark |
Energy/Climate | European Commission, Commissioner for climate action 2010-2014 | KR Foundation, Danfoss, Volkswagen + other roles, Various (some unpaid) | Jan 2015 | (updated) |
| Charlie McCreevy Ireland |
Finance | European Commission, Commissioner for internal market and services | Ryanair, BNY Mellon, Sentenial and others, Non-executive director | Mar 2010 | |
| Maria Damanaki Greece |
Maritime affairs | European Commission, Commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries | The Nature Conservancy, Global managing director for oceans | Jan 2015 | (updated) |
| Meglena Kuneva Bulgaria |
Finance | European Commission, Commissioner for consumer protection | BNP Paribas, Non-executive member of the board | May 2010 | |
| Jonathan Hill UK |
Finance | European Commission, Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union | Freshfields, UBS, Aviva Insurance, Deloitte, Times Newspaper, Senior adviser, Director | Mar 2017 | (new) |
| Joe Borg Malta |
Maritime affairs | European Commission, Commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries | Fipra, Special advisor | Aug 2010 | |
| Günter Verheugen Germany |
General | European Commission, Commissioner for enterprise and industry | European Experience Company + roles at RBS Germany, FleishmanHillard and others, Non-executive managing director (unpaid) and 50 per cent shareholder | Apr 2010 | |
| Neelie Kroes Netherlands |
General | European Commission, Commissioner for the digital agenda | Bank of America Merrill Lynch + Salesforce + Uber, Special adviser + board directorships | Mar 2015 | (updated) |
| Viviane Reding Luxembourg |
General | European Commission, Commissioner for Justice | Various, including Bertelsmann Foundation + Agfa-Gevaert, Member of board | Nov 2014 | (updated) |
| Benita Ferrero-Waldner Austria |
General | European Commission, Commissioner for external relations and then trade | Munich Re, Gamesa Corporación Technologica, Alpine Holding, Supervisory board member | Feb 2010 | (updated) |
| Karel De Gucht Belgium |
Trade | European Commission, European commissioner for trade | Proximus, Merit Capital NV, CVC Partners, ArcelorMittal, Member of the management board | (updated) | |
| José Manuel Barroso Portugal |
General | European Commission, President (for 10 years) | Various including Goldman Sachs, European Business Summit + Bilderberg Conferences, | Nov 2014 | (updated) |
| Louis Michel Belgium |
Finance | European Commission, Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid | Credimo, Board member | Jun 2010 | |
| Siim Kallas Estonia |
General | European Commission, European commissioner for transport (previously transparency) | Nortal, Consultant | May 2015 | (updated) |
| Algirdas Šemeta Lithuania |
Business/Industry | European Commission, Commissioner for taxation and customs union, audit and anti-fraud | Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Initiative , Ukrainian Business Ombudsman | Dec 2014 | (new) |
| Joao Pacheco Portugal |
Agriculture | European Commission, DG agriculture, Deputy director-general | JSPacheco-International Consulting, Allen F. Johnson Associates, Farm Europe, Various | Oct 2013 | (updated) |
| Hervé Jouanjean France |
General | European commission, DG budget, Director-general | Fidal, Of counsel | May 2014 | |
| Per Hellström Sweden |
IT | European commission, DG competition, Head of mergers for environment and energy | Apple Benelux BV, Senior Director Government and Regulatory Affairs, Competition Law and Policy in the EMEIA region | Feb 2014 | (updated) |
| Tobias McKenney |
IT | European Commission, DG Internal Market, Policy advisor - copyright unit | Google, European intellectual property manager | Jun 2012 | (updated) |