EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday she would not meet former Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who now holds a senior job at Goldman Sachs, if he wanted to lobby her.
Vestager’s remarks at a press conference in Brussels followed news that Barroso met Jyrki Katainen, the Commission vice president in charge of jobs and growth, in October last year.
“I took a decision in the very first week of this mandate not to meet with lobbyists,” Vestager said in response to a reporter’s question about whether she would meet Barroso. “That makes my life very easy. I am more than happy to meet with CEOs in a merger procedure, but I want to meet with people who are in charge.”
Barroso’s decision to join Goldman Sachs International as non-executive chairman was controversial. He assured current Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the time that he would not lobby on the bank’s behalf.
Katainen told EU Observer it was a “misperception” that Barroso had lobbied him during their meeting. “If somebody was lobbying, it was me. I was telling [him] about our ambitious trade and defence agenda,” Katainen said.
At the press conference, the journalist asked Vestager whether she would meet with Barroso in “a hotel room” before correcting himself to say “hotel.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” joked Vestager, who said her silver wedding anniversary was coming up next year. “I am a happily married woman.”