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Roundup: MEPs call for doubling "cooling off" period for former EU Commissioners

Xinhua, December 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) proposed to double the "cooling off" period for former European Union (EU) commissioners from 18 to 36 months in a resolution adopted Thursday.

The "cooling off" period is the time in which an ex-Commissioner must wait before taking private sector jobs in their areas of expertise.

In a recent statement, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed 24 months for ex-commissioners, and 36 months only for the commission president.

Adopted almost unanimously with 615 votes to five against, six abstentions, the non-binding resolution asked the European Commission to revise its code of conduct for commissioners.

Other suggestions in the resolution include better declarations of interests in order to give a full picture of the financial situation and activities of commissioners and their families.

The financial interests declaration should include present or past interests, or activities from the last two years, the resolution stated.

The European Parliament also recommended that Commissioners should declare all interests as "shareholders, company board members, advisors and consultants, members of associated foundations," as well as close family interests and changes that took place when their candidatures were made known.

Should a conflict of interest identified while a Commissioner is in office, the Commission President should follow guidance from the European Parliament in how to resolve the conflict, or MEPs might recommend withdrawing confidence in the Commissioner in question and, when appropriate, depriving him or her the rights to a pension and other benefits, the resolution stated.

The resolution also called for a greater role for the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee in analyzing the financial interest declarations, fulfilling a supervisory role.

Clearance from this committee on the absence of any conflict of interest should be a precondition for holding the hearing of a Commissioner-designate by the committee responsible for his/her future portfolio. Endite