On Wednesday 28 September, Jean-Claude Juncker's Commission will present proposals on transparency, in particular to make it an obligation for lobbyists active in the field of European affairs to register on a public register of lobbyists. The idea will also be to extend this register to pressure groups that address the Council of the EU.
Answering questions from the press about the row over José Manuel Barroso's new 'revolving door' job with American bank Goldman Sachs, Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas confirmed in Brussels on Monday 26 September that the Commission was to present initiatives to improve transparency this Wednesday.
However, he stressed that the aim was to improve transparency around, and not within, the Juncker Commission, in reference to lobbyists' activities. He reiterated that the Juncker Commission has already done a great deal in this area since it took up its functions in November 2014, "having basically anticipated the public interest in transparency". "We have nothing to learn about transparency", he added.
Barroso in close contact with the American bank during his term in office in Brussels
Barroso had close contact with Goldman Sachs during his term at the helm of the European Commission (2004 to 2014), according to documents revealed on Saturday 24 September by the Portuguese newspaper Publico. The newspaper reported that the Goldman Sachs bosses had confidentially provided the Barroso cabinet with proposals on changes to be made to EU policies and published extract of letters and emails obtained from the Commission. A letter dated 30 September 2013 and signed by the head of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, refers to a discreet visit made by Barroso to the headquarters of the bank in New York which, according to the newspaper, did not feature on his official agenda and there is no mention made in the Commission archives.
When approached by the newspaper for comment, Barroso categorically denied any special relationship with any financial entity during his two terms in office in Brussels. He said that although he had naturally had institutional contacts with many political, employer, union and financial entities, these had been fully transparent and duly registered with the Commission archives. These entities included the principal banks operating on the European market in times of financial crisis, he went on to explain.
The Commission chaired by Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated the rules adopted at the end of 2014, which require commissioners to receive only interest groups included on the transparency register and to publish these meetings on the internet. As regards the information for the Barroso Commission, the rules on the right of access to documents of the European institutions are the ones that applied at the time, as there were no transparency requirements regarding meetings with lobbyists, Schinas explained. Finally, he said that it was by virtue of these rules on access to documents that the journalists from Publico were able to obtain the documents regarding Barroso's contact with the American bank. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)