Brussels, 31 May 2002
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Fruitful
Redeployment in the Commission Brussels, 31 May 2002 |
| Further to the departure of the Head of the Cabinet
of Mr. Kinnock to British Airways in 2002, and
after helping his boss to manage the transport sector
during the Santer Commission, it is now the turn of the
ex-General Director of Environment to become the Director
of British Nuclear Fuels. The Commissioner responsible for the Environment, "Greenpeace" and several Members of the European Parliament are of the opinion that this redeployment is opposed to the ethics of the European civil service and that the independence of the Commission is undermined. But Mr. Kinnock doesn’t see anything unusual in the fact that a high flying official continues a fruitful career in his homeland Member State even when he manages a company that he was responsible for controlling while he was working in the Commission, shortly before. To support his thesis, Mr. Kinnock puts forwards similar cases with nationals of other Member States. R&D knows that the fellow countrymen of Mr. Kinnock are not the only ones involved but R&D considers that it is necessary to clearly address this vital problem for the credibility of the Commission in its regulatory duties in numerous essential sectors of the Single Market. Our great reformer who puts forward the weakness of the current Staff Regulations to justify his non-intervention in both the above mentioned cases, hasn’t made the slightest attempt to introduce measures in the reform proposals to avoid the recurrence of these practises. The least which could be expected is a minimum compulsory cooling-off period for ex-senior officials, before they are authorised to accept a job related to their former position in the Commission. On the contrary, by offering these posts to the private sector, Mr. Kinnock opens the door to other cases. Future Directors and Directors-General recruited externally for limited periods, will be tempted to prepare the continuation of their career by giving guarantees to their future employers. What can we think about a Commission that allows the members of its hierarchy - (with increased powers thanks to Mr. Kinnock’s reform) to leave any time with a comfortable indemnity, possibly having prepared the ground for their future employer during their last months spent in Brussels? Who can trust a Commission managed by managers whose independence is only relative? How can we believe that a procedure with concerning distortion of competition, control of mergers or regulation of an industrial sector will be really carried out with full objectivity and in accordance with the general interest? R&D shares the opinion of several members of the European Parliament including British nationals, who consider that the Commission is showing a dangerous leniency towards itself as well as for the Single Market, which neither reinforces its independence nor the credibility of its "reform". But what is the real objective of this reform? To strengthen the Commission or to weaken it for the long term in order to stop it from playing the role in the future that it has played since 1958? The Executive Committee |
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Membres du Comité Exécutif: Ianniello Franco, Adurno Giuseppe, Zorbas Gerassimos, Ravagli Alessandra, Uguccioni Bruno, Docherty Michael, Vassila-Souyoul Erica, Bochu Claude, Drevet Jean-François, Napolitano Raffaele, Crespinet Alain, Sybren Singelsma, Paul Frank, Panarisi Edi, Sperling Christiane, Domingos Dias. |
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