The petition was launched in July when it was announced that the former president of the European Commission would take up the post of non-executive president of the US investment bank.
The petition was open to EU workers and European citizens as “another example of the irresponsible practice” of “revolving doors” that is highly prejudicial for the EU institutions and that, although not illegal, is “morally reprehensible” and “dishonours the European public service and the EU itself”.
The petition, which was delivered to the Commission, Council and European Parliament,called for stronger measures to avoid similar situations in the future and that this case is taken to the Court of Justice to see if all the rules were followed regarding “his duty of integrity and discretion regarding the European Union”.
The current president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said in September that an ad-hoc ethics committee would examine the contract with his predecessor at Goldman Sachs International, and that he had given his office orders to treat Durão Barroso as any other lobbyist with connections in Brussels, thus withdrawing the privileges granted to former presidents.