Time to get serious about Commissioners' code of conduct

Among ordinary citizens, one of the most enduring images of the EU is that of the 'gravy train' - MEPs and bureaucrats in Brussels determined to get their hands on as many taxpayer-funded perks as possible. Given the EU's continuing popularity crisis, you would think that the various EU institutions would be all over this issue like a rash.

MEPs have rightly been under intense scrutiny in recent years, be it their generous wages and allowances, exotic junkets or second pension schemes. But what about EU Commissioners?

The Sunday Times yesterday reported that MEPs have demanded that the Commission's 'ethics committee' investigate whether former Commissioner Günter Verheugen is in breach of rules on lobbying. Verheugen, who retired in February, received the Commission’s approval to take up posts with Fleishman-Hillard, a public relations firm, the Royal Bank of Scotland and associations representing German banks and Turkish commodity exchanges.

But apparently he did not seek permission for the European Experience company, of which he is a co-founder, co-owner and unpaid managing director. The company’s website promises clients “expertise and vast experience in the area of EU policy” as well as “the best strategy” to deal with European institutions.

If the claims are true, it would appear that Verheugen is indeed in breach of the Commission's code of conduct, which states:

Whenever Commissioners intend to engage in an occupation during the year after they have ceased to hold office, whether this be at the end of their term or upon resignation, they shall inform the Commission in good time. The Commission shall examine the nature of the planned occupation. If it is related to the content of the portfolio of the Commissioner during his/her full term of office, the Commission shall seek the opinion of an ad hoc ethical committee. (p3)

But the problem is these rules leave far too much room for ambiguity and it is no wonder that cases such as this occur. After all, Verheugen is not the only ex-Commissioner to take up a job which would potentially involve lobbying his former employer. Charlie McCreevy also took up a job, this time at Ryanair, which is clearly open to a conflict of interest given the airline's run-ins with the Commission in competition cases in the past and perhaps the future.

So, let's see the Commission tighten up the rules, perhaps taking inspiration from the UK's ministerial code of conduct, and bar ex-Commissioners for two years from working for any firm that would seek to influence the Commission. It's not like these ex-officials are going to starve to death. Verheugen is in receipt of a pension worth around €115,000 a year.

Third time unlucky

Euractiv has returned from its summer break with a rather good, albeit concerning, story about concerns over German EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger's extra-curricular activities. It has been revealed that he has been forced to re-submit his 'declaration of interests' three times and it's still not right.

It seems that Oettinger has repeatedly failed to disclose the full list of trusteeships he undertakes and Stern reports that German prosecutors are checking whether he committed a criminal offence by lying in his affidavit, following charges made by German management consultant Andreas Frank.

Makes you wonder whether other Commissioners are also being economical with the truth when it comes to potential conflicts of interest? And if Oettinger is unable to fill out a simple form at the third time of asking, is he really capable of solving the EU's pressing issues of energy security and liberalisation?

You can access the various Commissioners' declarations here:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/index_en.htm

Cash cow

On his CAP Reform blog Jack Thurston has a story that illustrates one of the many reasons why reforming the EU's wasteful and protectionist farming policies is so difficult. The post centres on Henrik Høegh, Denmark's newly appointed Farming Minister, who is a long-time recipient of EU farming subsidies.

Since 2000, he has received a whopping €604,787.00 from the Common Agricultural Policy and his son and daughter are also thought to be receiving EU cash. Indeed, Høegh is not the only farming minister to have been in receipt of EU subsidies.

In an outright conflict of interest, Mr Høegh is now responsible for signing his own subsidy cheques, but also, as a member of the EU’s Council of Agriculture Ministers, deciding on the future of the CAP.

As Thurston concludes: "With the long-term future of the CAP currently under debate, can the Danish people be confident that Mr Høegh will be pursuing the public interest rather than his own private profits?"

Downright scandalous

We had been forced led to believe by the powers that be that the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty (by hook and by crook) was meant to signal the end of the EU's internal wrangling and launch the EU into a new decade more outward looking and firmly focussed on the needs of its citizens.

However, the 40,000 - 50,000 or so EU bureaucrats in Brussels (and Luxembourg) plainly have other ideas. They have decided to start 2010 by taking all 27 member states of the EU to the European Court of Justice over their refusal to agree an inflation busting 3.7% pay rise. EU officials have been unwilling to accept a compromise offer from member states of a 1.85% rise.

Now this is so outrageous on so many levels that you would be forgiven for thinking this was a joke or something concocted by the most vehement eurosceptic. But if you're struggling to believe it, take a look here.

First, the pay rise itself. EU officials are paid well, very well. The basic monthly salary of the lowest pay grade is €2,550 per month, while a department head can expect to earn around €17,700 per month, and are paying special "community taxes" ranging from 8% to 45% (with the highest tax bracket applying only on wages above €6,700 per month). They receive all manner of benefits, including generous allowances for their children's education and very favourable pension arrangements.

Despite these benefits, EU officials are insistent that, in the worst recession for generations, they are entitled to more because "that's what the 'compulsory method' for calculating the figure says" and that it is a matter of "rule of law" as a Commission spokesperson delicately put it. Evidently, recessions can't penetrate the Brussels bubble and, even if they did, they would of course be superseded by EU law.

The scale of the brazen disregard for what is happening to Europeans elsewhere and the sheer bloody-midedness is quite frankly awesome.

Second, is the process by which this issue of the pay rise will inevitably happen be decided. You could cut the lack of democratic accountability with a knife. Today's decision to take the matter to the ECJ was taken by the 'College of Commissioners', which includes all 27 EU Commissioners and the UK's very own Catherine Ashton. The decision was taken by unanimity, so it therefore follows that the Baroness thought this a good idea too.

Because all the salaries of those directly employed by the EU institutions are based upon the same pay scale, the 27 EU Commissioners are also set to benefit from the additional 3.7%. Now Ashton's decision is not looking so silly (well, for her anyway). As Bruno Waterfield over at the Telegraph notes, Ashton will pocket an extra £9,000 on top of her basic annual salary of £241,000 if the commission's legal action is successful. But it does not stop there.

Not content with an assault on EU taxpayers' wallets, the Commissioners have made sure to insult their intellect for good measure. Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told journalists that due to the stalemate between member states and the Commission "Now it's for the court" to decide. Reading this at first glance one would think this reasonable - an impartial judiciary is just the job for such institutional difficulties.

But, hang on a minute, aren't the ECJ judges' salaries also based on the very same pay scale as all other EU officials? Why yes they are. Thank the EU for those checks and balances. The festive season may be over but the expression 'Turkeys don't often vote for Christmas' still very much applies.