Mr. Barroso, Ms. Kroes, Ms. Reding, how many other top EU officials have moved to the private sector despite the risk of conflict of interest?
The debate is already there for the EU public (see here an example).
Whether conflict of interest is perceived or real does not matter in the end, it is damaging the reputation of the Commission. Is the Commission ready and willing to act before we lose what’s left of political sympathies in the EU? Or is it already too late?
Generation 2004 thinks it is not too late and that the Commission should immediately start working on damage limitation. For that purpose, we ask the Commission to communicate all names of ex commissioners, directors general, directors as well as the names of all those who have had a managerial and/or adviser post in the recent past, i.e. those who are in a situation of possible conflict of interest. This information is already partially available on the internet here but because it is hidden in a pile of irrelevant bullshit, most people are totally unaware of it.
Let’s be transparent, and make available the names of those who are at risk of conflict of interest to the general public, in an open and convincing manner. In our era of wikileaks and the like, transparency usually gives better results and is much more appreciated than being secretive. The Commission does not have anything to hide, does it?
You might have seen the communication from/between some trade unions about their reserved parking spaces in the building that hosts the staff representation. Generation 2004 has better things to do than waste its time in these endless disputes. However, for the record, we would like to recall that we took a very clear position more than 2 years ago on this issue: no reserved parking space for anyone1, not even staff representatives. We are against any sort of unjustified privilege and we practice what we preach. Logically G2004 does not have any reserved spaces. We take a certain pride in seeing that some unions are joining us on this position, albeit with a 2-year delay… A shame that DG HR did not respond to our demand 2 years ago.
