Von der Leyen II.: Viele Drehtüren

Die neue EU-Kommission ist nicht nur rechtsoffen. Einige designierte Kommissare werden auch verdächtigt, die berüchtigten Drehtüren genutzt haben, um Geschäft und Politik zu verquicken.

Dies kritisiert das “Corporate Europe Observatory” (CEO), das sich auf Transparenz und Lobbyismus in der EU spezialisiert hat. Hier die entsprechende Aufstellung (leider nur auf Englisch):

Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal): the candidate-Commissioner for Financial services and the savings and investment union has a worrying revolving door history. This includes  a move from being Portuguese Minister of Finance to join the UK-based debt collector Arrow Global bandwagon, which was handling €300 million of [Portuguese financial services group] Banif bad debts. 

Marta Kos (Slovenia): the candidate-Commissioner for Enlargement is currently employed as a Senior Adviser at Kreab, one of the biggest corporate lobbying consultancies in Brussels. Kreab’s corporate clients include Amazon, Google and BP, as well as banks and chemical manufacturers. She is married to Henri Getaz, Secretary General of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Jozef Sikela (Czech Republic): the candidate-Commissioner for International partnerships has had long career at Erste Group, one of the largest financial services providers in Central and Eastern Europe, where he was responsible for corporate and investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, real estate finance, trade finance, financial markets and macroeconomic analysis. 

Wopke Hoekstra (The Netherlands): the candidate-Commissioner for Climate, net zero and clean growth – He faced a parliamentary investigation in 2023 for allegedly promoting oil and gas exploration in the Netherlands for personal financial gain. His career has been marked by conflicts of interest, including his role as a Dutch senator while partnering with McKinsey, and he was named in the Pandora Papers for offshore dealings. His opposition to financial support during COVID-19 also strained relations with southern European politicians, raising concerns over his lack of solidarity.

Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria): the candidate-Commissioner for Startups, research and innovation – In 2018, she was accused by a former employee-turned-whistleblower of running a ‘cash-for-passports’ scam, selling passports to foreigners and granting them visa-free travel across the European Union.

Ein weiterer interessanter Fall ist der scheidende EU-Kommissar Thierry Breton. Er war schon vor seiner Arbeit in Brüssel in der Wirtschaft tätig – und dürfte nun wieder versucht sein, seine exzellenten Kontakte zu versilbern.

Wie das geht, hat der deutsche Ex-Kommissar Günther Oettinger vorgemacht. Er wurde dafür übrigens nie belangt, obwohl er offenbar gegen EU-Regeln verstoßen hat. Sein Vorteil: Er ist CDU-Mitglied – wie Frau von der Leyen…

P.S. Normalerweise soll das neue Ethik-Gremium gegen Drehtüren vorgehen. Außerdem gibt es im EU-Parlament einen Kontrollausschuss, der alle Kommissare durchleuchtet. Mal sehen, ob diesmal durchgegriffen wird…