14/09/2016 (Agence Europe) – Former Commission president José Manuel Barroso hit back on Tuesday 13 September at the criticism levelled against him following his highly controversial appointment within US bank Goldman Sachs (see EUROPE 11623). In a containment exercise, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took the step on 11 September of calling for more information on Barroso’s work contract and referred the appointment to the ad hoc ethics committee. Writing to Juncker on Tuesday, Barroso says: “It has been claimed that the mere fact of working with Goldman Sachs raises questions of integrity. … These claims are baseless and wholly unmerited. They are discriminatory against me and against Goldman Sachs”. To those who accuse him of taking advantage of Brexit, the former Commission president retorts that his appointment had been decided before the referendum on 23 June. (LC)