Juncker orders probe into Barroso’s Goldman Sachs job

Ethics committee will look into the former Commission president’s chairman gig at investment bank.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has ordered an investigation into whether his predecessor José Manuel Barroso broke EU laws by taking a job at investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Juncker informed European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly in a letter on Sunday that he had asked Barroso to “provide clarifications on his new responsibilities.”

Juncker assured the ombudsman that from now on, Barroso “will be received in the Commission not as a former president but as an interest representative,” meaning he will have to sign up to the EU’s transparency register.

Barroso, Portugal’s prime minister from 2002 to 2004 and Commission president between 2004 and 2014, was appointed in July as chairman and senior adviser at the international arm of Goldman Sachs. His role will involve advising the bank on the U.K.’s negotiations to leave the EU.

Juncker said Barroso had confirmed “his standing commitment to behave with integrity and discretion.” But because he was a former president of the Commission, an ethics committee that weighs in on activities by former commissioners in the 18-month period after they leave the executive arm of the EU will be consulted.

According to EU rules, former commissioners may lose pension entitlements if they do not act with integrity when taking jobs after leaving the Commission.