The debate was sparked after the Financial Times Deutschland published an article regarding the conspicuous package that commissioners receive when they need to re-enter the job market once their mandate has expired.
A list of those receiving the indemnities was subsequently made public by a European Commission spokesperson. The paper reveals that among the former commissioners, all but three receive monthly indemnities, which range from between 40% and 55% of their salaries as commissioners, according to the duration of their term in office.
A commissioner's monthly salary before tax is 20,000 euros, journalists were told yesterday, with Commission vice-presidents receiving 22,500.
Margot Wallström, a former Commission vice-president responsible for communication, her colleague Günter Verheugen, formerly responsible for industry, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, formerly responsible for trade, are the only former commissioners who are no longer on the EU executive's payroll.
The list of former commissioners who are receiving indemnities includes Stavros Dimas, Danuta Hübner, Joseph Borg, Dalia Grybauskaitė, Ján Figel', Markos Kyprianou, Jacques Barrot, Franco Frattini, Paweł Samecki, Louis Michel, László Kovács, Vladimir Špidla, Mariann Fischer Boel, Charlie McCreevy, Peter Mandelson, Meglena Kuneva and Leonard Orban.
Some are now in politics, like Dalia Grybauskaitė, who became the president of Lithuania. Others, such as former Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, who works for Ryanair, chose the private sector. Meglena Kuneva is the only one still working for the Commission, as a political adviser to EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas.
Commission defends 'indemnities'
Former commissioners are entitled to collect indemnities for three years. This money is supposed to help them re-enter the job market while maintaining their independence, and prevents them from jumping at any job offer they may receive, it was explained.
However, this logic does not explain why former commissioners who have already found another job should continue to receive the bonus. The contradiction is even more striking for those whose new jobs are in no way "worse" than the previous one - like Grybauskaitė, now a head of state, or Frattini, a foreign minister.
If a former commissioner finds a job during the three-year period, he or she can still receive the indemnity, or part of it, on the condition that their total income (new salary plus indemnity) should not exceed their salary as a commissioner. Judges at the European Court of Justice are the only other top EU officials to benefit from the same treatment.
A former commissioner should not receive the indemnity at all if his or her new salary is higher than the one paid by the Commission.
This may well be the case for those who are not receiving the farewell bonus. Last April, Margot Wallström was appointed the first ever UN Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict. Benita Ferrero-Waldner became a member of the supervisory board at Munich Re, a reinsurance company based in Germany.
Both were not immediately available for comment.
The situation looks more complicated for Günter Verheugen, as he is the only former commissioner who has not yet received assurances from his former employer that his new job does not violate the Commission's Code of Conduct.
The European Commission's Code of Conduct stipulates that former commissioners may not assume roles related to their previous portfolios for a period of at least a year after leaving office.
Recently, Verheugen launched a lobbying consultancy called 'The European Experience Company', prompting NGOs to cry foul and warn that this was a blatant conflict of interest.
From the spokesperson's explanations it became clear that Verheugen had only asked the ethical committee at the European Commission if his new job was compatible with the Code of Conduct after he had taken it. It also became known that the ethical committee has not yet given its verdict.
