On Thursday 16 January, MEPs adopted a resolution expressing their concern about ‘revolving door’ cases in the EU and, more specifically, about the case of Adam Farkas, Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA), who will join the Association of Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) as Chief Executive in February 2020 (see EUROPE 12356/9).
As had been anticipated (see EUROPE 12403/26), no new amendments or requests for separate votes were tabled to the draft resolution adopted unanimously on 12 December in the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) (see EUROPE 12389/19).
The resolution again asks the EBA to review its decision to allow Farkas to leave, and again states that the restrictions imposed on his departure are too light. In the debate preceding the vote, Paul Tang (S&D, Netherlands) warned that MEPs are prepared to ban Farkas from the European Parliament, if their request is turned down.
The resolution proposes that the European institutions refrain from any contact with Farkas for a period of two years. It also asks Parliament’s services to consider the possibility of refusing to issue an access badge for the same period in order to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
The case has also been forwarded to the European Ombudsman. The Change Finance coalition has lodged a complaint, with the support of MEPs Paul Tang (S&D, Netherlands), Jonás Fernández (S&D, Spain), Luis Garicano (Renew Europe, Spain), Sven Giegold (Greens-EFA, Germany) and José Gusmão (GUE-NGL, Portugal) to determine whether the EBA decision constitutes an instance of maladministration and should therefore be annulled.
MEPs believe that the ‘revolving-door’ case involving Adam Farkas is not the first in the EU and will probably not be the last. The resolution therefore calls on the European Commission to put in place a unified legal framework to prevent conflicts of interest in the post-employment period.
MEPs also call on the Commission to assess whether the EU agencies concerned should decide for themselves on the enforcement of the rules on the prevention of conflicts of interest. MEPs consider the independent ethics body envisaged by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to be the body best suited to taking these decisions.
To read the adopted text, go to: https://bit.ly/384oob7 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)