Goldman's Jose Manuel Barroso Accused Of Breaking No EU Lobbying Pledge

Activists on Tuesday accused former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso of breaking his promise not to lobby the EU on behalf his employer Goldman Sachs.

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Feb, 2018 ) :Activists on Tuesday accused former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso of breaking his promise not to lobby the EU on behalf his employer Goldman Sachs.

A coalition of NGO's accused the former Portuguese prime minister of meeting with a vice-president of the current EU executive, Finland's Jyrki Katainen, in a hotel last year. "This information confirms that Mr.

Barroso has not kept his commitment to not lobby on behalf of Goldman Sachs," said Alter-EU, a coalition of NGOs specialising in the fight against corruption, in an open letter to the secretary general of the Commission, Alexander Italianer.

Katainen, in a letter to activists, confirmed the meeting and insisted it was mainly devoted to "questions of defence and trade". "Twenty-four hours after this meeting, vice-president Katainen published this meeting (in the EU transparency register) according to the procedure," said Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas at a daily briefing.

He "religiously followed the legal parameters that apply," said Schinas, refusing any further comment. Barroso's hiring in 2016 by the US investment bank, after ten years at the head of the Commission from 2004 to 2014, sparked a huge media firestorm with then French president Francois Hollande saying it was "unacceptable".

But after a probe, an EU ethics committee cleared Barroso, who waited the compulsory 18 months, of breaching ethics rules but criticised his "judgement" for taking the Goldman job. "The commitment made by Barroso not to lobby on behalf of Goldman Sachs meets the duty of integrity and discretion imposed by the treaty," the committee said in October 2016.

Meanwhile, Barroso insisted in a letter to the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker that "I have not been hired to lobby for Goldman Sachs and I do not intend to do so". The meeting with Katainan took place on 25 October 2017 in a Brussels hotel.

Alter-EU said it considered the sitdown between Barroso and the former the Finnish premier to be a lobbying activity and that the case must again be examined by the ethics committee. "The body should this time conduct a more thorough investigation of the role of Barroso with Goldman Sachs and assess whether the former president has misled President Juncker," the activists said.