Revolving doors

RevolvingDoorWatch

RevolvingDoorWatch is a database of commissioners, MEPs and officials who have gone through the revolving door into lobby or industry jobs. Lobbyists who have taken jobs with the EU institutions are also featured. These cases raise big questions about whether the EU institutions are robust enough in recognising and acting upon the risk of conflicts of interest.

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More info on the revolving door problem

RevolvingDoorWatch exposes how the EU institutions - the commission, parliament, council and agencies - fail to take effective action to block the revolving door. Brussels is home to one of the highest concentrations of political power in the world and the revolving door is one of the most important ways in which lobbyists can influence the political agenda in Brussels. When European decision-makers – commissioners, MEPs, officials - leave office and go into lobby jobs, or when lobbyists join the EU institutions, the risk of conflicts of interest can be great, undermining democratic, public-interest decision-making. It is the responsibility of the EU institutions to ensure that this does not happen. The EU institutions are not transparent about revolving doors, nor do they pro-actively publish information about how they monitor the revolving door.

RevolvingDoorWatch is a contribution to the ALTER-EU campaign to block the revolving door!

CEO and ALTER-EU demand tough, new rules to block the revolving door including:

  • A revised Code of Conduct for Commissioners to include a three year cooling-off period for Commissioners taking lobby jobs (or any other job which provokes the risk of a conflict of interest) and a revamped Commission ethics committee

  • A revised Code of Conduct for MEPs to include robust rules to regulate the revolving door

  • Further changes to the EU's Staff Regulations to better regulate the revolving door to include a two year cooling off period for officials; three years for the most senior officials

Name Policy area Former employer New employer Date Last updated Sort ascending
Neelie Kroes
Netherlands
General European Commission, Commissioner for the digital agenda Bank of America Merrill Lynch + Salesforce + Uber, Special adviser + board directorships Mar 2015 (updated)
Peter Skinner
UK
Finance European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 20 years) Allianz SE, Senior Advisor on EU/International relations.
Edgar Meister
Germany
Finance DWS Investment (investment branch of Deutsche Bank), Member of the supervisory board European Central Bank, Member of the Administrative Board of Review Nov 2014
Algirdas Šemeta
Lithuania
Business/Industry European Commission, Commissioner for taxation and customs union, audit and anti-fraud Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Initiative , Ukrainian Business Ombudsman Dec 2014 (new)
Isabel Ortiz
Spain
Food DG Enterprise and Industry, Policy Officer, Food Industry Unit (for 3 years) FoodDrinkEurope (Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU), Director of Consumer Information, Diet and Health Mar 2011
Pablo Asbo
Argentina
Competition DG Competition (for 6 years), Case-handler Avisa Partners , Associate director on competition Mar 2011
John Bruton
Ireland
Foreign affairs DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), EU Ambassador to the US (for 5 years) Cabinet DN (lobby consultancy) + others, Senior adviser Dec 2010
Ivan Rogers
Britain
Finance Barclays Capital, Head of the Public Sector Industry Group, UK and Ireland UK Government, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union (from Nov 2013); previously Prime Minister's Adviser on Europe and Global Issues (to Nov 2013) Oct 2011
Glyn Ford
UK
Foreign affairs European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 25 years) G+ and Polint Ltd, Senior Adviser Jul 2009
John Purvis
UK
Finance European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 15 years) cabinet DN, Senior advisor and chairman of Financial Future
Serge Abou
France
Business/Industry DG External Relations (now European External Action Service), EU Ambassador to China Huawei, Adviser Jul 2013
Piia-Noora Kauppi
Finland
Finance European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 9 years) Federation of Finnish Financial Services (+ now Chair of European Banking Federation), Managing director Jan 2009
Jörgen Holmquist
Sweden
Finance DG Internal Market and Services (MARKT), Director General DG MARKT Interel, “Senior advisory role” in financial services practice Oct 2012
Michel Petite
France
Tobacco Legal Service - European Commission, Director-General (for 6 years) Clifford Chance, Of Counsel Jan 2008
Meglena Kuneva
Bulgaria
Finance European Commission, Commissioner for consumer protection BNP Paribas, Non-executive member of the board May 2010
Viviane Reding
Luxembourg
General European Commission, Commissioner for Justice Various, including Bertelsmann Foundation + Agfa-Gevaert, Member of board Nov 2014 (updated)
Günter Verheugen
Germany
General European Commission, Commissioner for enterprise and industry European Experience Company + roles at RBS Germany, FleishmanHillard and others, Non-executive managing director (unpaid) and 50 per cent shareholder Apr 2010
Jonathan Hill
UK
Finance European Commission, Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union Freshfields, UBS, Aviva Insurance, Deloitte, Times Newspaper, Senior adviser, Director Mar 2017 (new)
Robert Madelin
UK
IT European Political Strategy Center & DG CNECT, Senior Adviser on Innovation & Director General Madelin Innovation, Director - Consultant Oct 2016 (new)
Graham Watson
UK
General European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 20 years) Bagehot Ltd, Founder and managing director Oct 2014
Jan Eric Frydman
Sweden
Trade Ekenberg & Andersson, Lawyer & partner DG Trade, Special adviser for trade policy and transatlantic affairs Mar 2015 (updated)
Connie Hedegaard
Denmark
Energy/Climate European Commission, Commissioner for climate action 2010-2014 KR Foundation, Danfoss, Volkswagen + other roles, Various (some unpaid) Jan 2015 (updated)
Sharon Bowles
UK
Finance European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 9 years) London Stock Exchange Group plc + Prime Collateralised Securities initiative (PCS) + Afore Consulting, Non-executive director + Senior Strategic Counsel Aug 2014 (updated)
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Austria
General European Commission, Commissioner for external relations and then trade Munich Re, Gamesa Corporación Technologica, Alpine Holding, Supervisory board member Feb 2010 (updated)
Arlene McCarthy
UK
General European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 20 years) Sovereign Strategy, Deputy chair for European strategy Jul 2014 (updated)
José Manuel Barroso
Portugal
General European Commission, President (for 10 years) Various including Goldman Sachs, European Business Summit + Bilderberg Conferences, Nov 2014 (updated)
Corien Wortmann-Kool
Netherlands
Finance European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 10 years) Aegon NV + ABP, Supervisory board member May 2014 (updated)
Karel De Gucht
Belgium
Trade European Commission, European commissioner for trade Proximus, Merit Capital NV, CVC Partners, ArcelorMittal, Member of the management board (updated)
Barbara Gallani
Food Food and Drink Federation, Director Policy and Sustainability and Chief Scientist European Food Safety Authority, Head of the Communications and External Relations Department May 2016 (new)
Marcus Lippold
Energy/Climate DG Energy, Advisor – EU International energy relations MOL Group + Saudi Aramco, Various Aug 2013 (updated)
Aleksandra Tomczak
Poland
Energy/Climate World Coal Association, European specialist + Policy manager European Commission, DG Energy, Policy coordinator EU Coal Feb 2015 (updated)
Peter Faross
Germany
General DG Energy, Acting deputy director general UEAPME (Union Européenne de l’Artisanat et des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises) + Kaesler & Kollegen, Secretary-general + adviser Jan 2014 (updated)
Erika Mann
Germany
IT European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 10 years) Computer and Communications Industry Association, and now Facebook, Executive Vice President Dec 2009 (updated)
Chris Davies
UK
Energy/Climate European Parliament, Member of the European Parliament (for 15 years) Chris Davies Ltd, Director Dec 2014 (new)
Matt Hinde
UK
Energy/Climate UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change, Head of EU Strategy FleishmanHillard, Senior Vice-President and Head of its energy practice Oct 2015 (new)
Hervé Jouanjean
France
General European commission, DG budget, Director-general Fidal, Of counsel May 2014
Mogens Peter Carl
Denmark
Environment DG Environment, Director-General Kreab Gavin Anderson (lobby consultancy), Senior Adviser Feb 2010
Charlie McCreevy
Ireland
Finance European Commission, Commissioner for internal market and services Ryanair, BNY Mellon, Sentenial and others, Non-executive director Mar 2010
Luc Werring
Netherlands
Energy/Climate DG Transport and Energy (for 23 years), Principal adviser to the Director-General Hill & Knowlton (lobby consultancy), Senior adviser on transport, energy and environment Dec 2007
Eoin O'Malley
Ireland
Trade BusinessEurope, Senior adviser on international relations European Commission, DG Trade, Policy officer Jun 2010
Mårten Westrup
Sweden
Energy/Climate DG Enterprise (for 27 months), Policy officer and Legal officer BusinessEurope, Adviser - Industrial Affairs Committee (climate change) Oct 2010
Jean De Ruyt
Belgium
Trade Belgium Permanent Representation to the EU, Permanent Representative + Chair of the Committee of Perm Reps, 2010 Belgian Presidency of the Council Covington & Burling LLP, Senior European policy advisor Jan 2012
Brian Simpson
UK
European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 23 years) Hume Brophy, Senior consultant Jul 2014
Nikos Lavranos
Netherlands
Trade Dutch ministry of economic affairs, agriculture & innovation, Senior policy advisor on trade European federation for investment law and arbitration (EFILA), Secretary-general Jul 2014
Fiona Hall
UK
Energy/Climate European parliament, Member of European parliament (for 10 years) Rockwool International A/S (Hall's major consultancy client), Senior policy advisor to its energy efficiency team Sep 2014
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Denmark
Security North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Secretary General Rasmussen Global, Consultant Oct 2014
Holger Krahmer
Germany
General European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 10 years) Opel Group, Director European affairs public policy and government relations Oct 2014
Martin Callanan
UK
Environment European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 15 years) Symphony Environmental Technologies, Consultant Nov 2014
Silvana Koch-Mehrin
Germany
Trade European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (for 10 years) gplus Europe, Senior policy adviser Nov 2014
Ann Mettler
German-Swedish
General The Lisbon Council + Global Agenda Council, Executive director + Vice-Chair European Commission, Head of the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) Dec 2014