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 | New employer | Date Sort ascending | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| Robert Madelin UK |
IT | European Political Strategy Center & DG CNECT, Senior Adviser on Innovation & Director General | Madelin Innovation, Director - Consultant | Oct 2016 | (new) |
| Barbara Gallani |
Food | Food and Drink Federation, Director Policy and Sustainability and Chief Scientist | European Food Safety Authority, Head of the Communications and External Relations Department | May 2016 | (new) |
| Matt Hinde UK |
Energy/Climate | UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change, Head of EU Strategy | FleishmanHillard, Senior Vice-President and Head of its energy practice | Oct 2015 | (new) |
| Carl Haglund Finland |
European Parliament + Finnish government, Member of European Parliament (for 3 years) + defence minister | Miltton group, Board member | Sep 2015 | ||
| Siim Kallas Estonia |
General | European Commission, European commissioner for transport (previously transparency) | Nortal, Consultant | May 2015 | (updated) |
| Olle Schmidt Sweden |
Finance | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 13 years) | Hume Brophy, Senior consultant | Apr 2015 | |
| Jan Eric Frydman Sweden |
Trade | Ekenberg & Andersson, Lawyer & partner | DG Trade, Special adviser for trade policy and transatlantic affairs | Mar 2015 | (updated) |
| 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) |
| Aleksandra Tomczak Poland |
Energy/Climate | World Coal Association, European specialist + Policy manager | European Commission, DG Energy, Policy coordinator EU Coal | Feb 2015 | (updated) |
| George Lyon UK |
Agriculture | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 5 years) | Hume Brophy, Agri-business senior consultant | Jan 2015 | |
| Maria Damanaki Greece |
Maritime affairs | European Commission, Commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries | The Nature Conservancy, Global managing director for oceans | Jan 2015 | (updated) |
| Herman Van Rompuy Belgium |
Business/Industry | European Council, President | TomorrowLab Advisory Board + European Policy Centre, Chairman | Jan 2015 | |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| Ann Mettler German-Swedish |
General | The Lisbon Council + Global Agenda Council, Executive director + Vice-Chair | European Commission, Head of the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) | Dec 2014 | |
| Chris Davies UK |
Energy/Climate | European Parliament, Member of the European Parliament (for 15 years) | Chris Davies Ltd, Director | Dec 2014 | (new) |
| Janez Potočnik Slovenia |
Environment | European Commission, Commissioner for the environment | Forum for the future of agriculture + others, Chairman | Dec 2014 | (updated) |
| Viviane Reding Luxembourg |
General | European Commission, Commissioner for Justice | Various, including Bertelsmann Foundation + Agfa-Gevaert, Member of board | Nov 2014 | (updated) |
| 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 | |
| Martin Callanan UK |
Environment | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 15 years) | Symphony Environmental Technologies, Consultant | Nov 2014 | |
| José Manuel Barroso Portugal |
General | European Commission, President (for 10 years) | Various including Goldman Sachs, European Business Summit + Bilderberg Conferences, | Nov 2014 | (updated) |
| Silvana Koch-Mehrin Germany |
Trade | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 10 years) | gplus Europe, Senior policy adviser | Nov 2014 | |
| Michał Kamiński Poland |
General | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 8 years) | Prism Group, Partner | Oct 2014 | |
| Anders Fogh Rasmussen Denmark |
Security | North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Secretary General | Rasmussen Global, Consultant | Oct 2014 | |
| Holger Krahmer Germany |
General | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 10 years) | Opel Group, Director European affairs public policy and government relations | Oct 2014 | |
| Graham Watson UK |
General | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 20 years) | Bagehot Ltd, Founder and managing director | Oct 2014 | |
| Fiona Hall UK |
Energy/Climate | European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 10 years) | Rockwool International A/S (Hall's major consultancy client), Senior policy advisor to its energy efficiency team | Sep 2014 | |
| Emilie Turunen Denmark |
Finance | European Parliament, Member of European parliament (for 5 years) | Nykredit, Head of public affairs | Sep 2014 | |
| Sharon Bowles UK |
Finance | European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 9 years) | London Stock Exchange Group plc + Prime Collateralised Securities initiative (PCS) + Afore Consulting, Non-executive director + Senior Strategic Counsel | Aug 2014 | (updated) |
| 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 | |
| Brian Simpson UK |
European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 23 years) | Hume Brophy, Senior consultant | Jul 2014 | ||
| Arlene McCarthy UK |
General | European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 20 years) | Sovereign Strategy, Deputy chair for European strategy | Jul 2014 | (updated) |
| Corien Wortmann-Kool Netherlands |
Finance | European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 10 years) | Aegon NV + ABP, Supervisory board member | May 2014 | (updated) |
| Elizabeth Kuiper Netherlands |
Health/Medicines | Permanent representation to the Netherlands, Attaché on health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices | European federation of pharmaceutical industries and associations (EFPIA) , Director of European affairs | May 2014 | |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| 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 | |
| Joao Pacheco Portugal |
Agriculture | European Commission, DG agriculture, Deputy director-general | JSPacheco-International Consulting, Allen F. Johnson Associates, Farm Europe, Various | Oct 2013 | (updated) |
| Marcus Lippold |
Energy/Climate | DG Energy, Advisor – EU International energy relations | MOL Group + Saudi Aramco, Various | Aug 2013 | (updated) |
| Serge Abou France |
Business/Industry | DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), EU Ambassador to China | Huawei, Adviser | Jul 2013 | |
| Stefano Marino Italy |
Health/Medicines | Sigma-Tau, Director of corporate legal and intellectual property | European medicines agency, Head of legal department | Jun 2013 | |
| Fanny-Pomme Langue France |
Energy/Climate | DG Energy, Policy Officer | European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), Policy Director | Jan 2013 | |
| Jörgen Holmquist Sweden |
Finance | DG Internal Market and Services (MARKT), Director General DG MARKT | Interel, “Senior advisory role” in financial services practice | Oct 2012 | |
| 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 | |
| Martin Bresson Denmark |
Finance | Permanent Representation of Denmark, Counsellor on financial services during the Danish Presidency of the EU | Fleishman-Hillard, Senior Policy Adviser to the financial services practice | Sep 2012 | |
| Tobias McKenney |
IT | European Commission, DG Internal Market, Policy advisor - copyright unit | Google, European intellectual property manager | Jun 2012 | (updated) |
| Vincenzo Salvatore Italy |
Health/Medicines | European Medicines Agency, Head of Legal Service | Sidley Austin LLP, Senior Counsel (European life sciences regulatory practice) | Jun 2012 | |
| Harald Boerekamp Netherlands |
Development | DG-ECHO (Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection), Administrator (contract agent) | Interel European Affairs, Senior consultant | May 2012 |