BRUSSELS--The European Commission faces a serious test of its credibility as it seeks to determine whether former president Jose Manuel Barroso was right to take on a job at Goldman Sachs, two transparency watchdogs said.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has launched an unprecedented ethics investigation into his predecessor who plans to help the U.S. investment bank deal with Brexit. Juncker will ask an independent panel to review Barroso's contract.
European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly and Transparency International both welcomed what they described as a positive first step, but said public trust in the EU executive was at stake in its handling of the affair.
"In a case that will have a huge impact on the Commission's integrity and reputation, the process needs to be swift and transparent," Transparency International EU director Carl Dolan said in a statement on Monday, adding that the panel's minutes, advice and reasoning should be published as soon as possible.
EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, who asked Juncker last week to explain what measures he was taking over Barroso, said she was pleased that the Commission president had responded to "widespread concerns".
"There is much at stake in terms of public trust," O'Reilly wrote. "This matter must be thoroughly and adequately dealt with. It is important also that such an assessment is completed as soon as is reasonably possible, within weeks and not months."
Nearly 140,000 people have signed an online petition started by EU staff calling for "strong exemplary measures" against Barroso, whose decision to work for Goldman Sachs they described as a "gift horse" for europhobes. His decision comes at a time when the EU is struggling in the aftermath of Britain's vote in June to quit the bloc to dispel public perceptions that it is a bureaucratic pawn of global capital. Some Europeans also hold Goldman Sachs partly responsible for the financial crisis that nearly wrecked the euro.
Goldman Sachs said there had been no breach of ethics. "Goldman Sachs and Mr. Barroso have adhered to all applicable legal rules and the highest ethical standards in his appointment," it said in a statement.
Barroso, a former Portuguese prime minister who headed the EU executive for a decade until Oct. 2014, has not commented publicly on his new job.
A Commission spokesman, asked why Juncker had only acted two months after Goldman hired Barroso, told a news conference the president had been reflecting on the issue. "He took time to think about the best thing to do. He doesn't just base his opinions on what was in the newspapers ... What counts is that an opinion is based on facts and that is exactly what is going to happen," he said.
Under its rules, the EU must vet former commissioners taking up new jobs within 18 months of them leaving office. Beyond that limit, they are still obliged to act with integrity and discretion and can be stripped of their pensions if they fail to do so.
