Goldman Sachs announced today that it has hired former EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as an advisor and non-executive chairman of its international business. MEP Sven Giegold, Rapporteur in the European Parliament for the Initiative Report “Transparency, accountability and integrity in the EU institutions”, commented:
“These shameful revolving doors between politics and business foster doubts on the integrity of democratic politics. Barroso’s quick changeover damages the reputation of the European Commission. We urgently need a longer ‘cooling-off period’ for EU Commissioners. Changeovers with conflict of interets should only be possible three years after the termination of the political mandate. I demand such a ‘cooling-off period’ also in my report for more transparency and integrity in the EU institutions.”