Ombudsman sharply criticizes the Commission for maintaining secrecy regarding the transfer of an official to a law firm – POLITICO

The Commission must pay attention to the “corrosive impact of the revolving door phenomenon,” it said, “which can have a negative impact on public trust, fuel Eurosceptic sentiment and undermine trade, competition or other EU interests.”

“The Commission’s failure to provide information on any restrictions it might have imposed on the former employee’s activities to mitigate the risk of conflict of interest made matters worse,” she said.

Two years ago, O’Reilly told the Commission to take a tougher stance on former employees moving into the private sector, where they could end up lobbying the EU executive or defending clients from EU investigations.

This investigation was prompted by the transfer of the EU’s top merger official, Carlos Esteva Mosso, to a law firm. Two other antitrust officials, Nicholas Banasevic and Cecilio Madero Villarejo, also left the commission to work at law firms, and Madero later moved to a consulting firm.

O’Reilly told von der Leyen that she had asked the Commission to be more decisive about these moves and to report on any restrictions imposed on officials.

“Where intended post-service activities pose risks that cannot be adequately mitigated by restrictions, or where restrictions cannot be effectively monitored or enforced, I have concluded that it would be prudent to (temporarily) prohibit (former) employees from holding such positions,” she said.

Last year, the Commission’s Competition Department faced protests over the selection of an American economist for a key antitrust position. The transparency campaign group also criticized the regulator over the potential conflict of interest arising from revolving door job transfers.

The commission did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.