26/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Juncker distances himself from José-Manuel Barroso who has now become a Goldman Sachs consultant. On Monday 25 July during an interview on the France 2 TV channel, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker provided a reply to a question regarding the job taken by his predecessor, José Manuel Durão Barroso, at the US merchant bank, Goldman Sachs. He said that “I would not have done it” but added that Barroso having taking up a non-government job respected “all the procedures in place”. In response to the position taken by the former Portuguese Prime Minister, European Commission employees launched a petition demanding that exemplary measures were taken against him. This petition had received more than 3,200 signatures by Tuesday 26 July. The EU Ombudsman has also called on the European Commission to tighten up its rules on ethics for former Commissioners. (MB)