A fierce integrity debate flared up when Benita Ferrero-Waldner of Austria, who held the external relations portfolio in the Barroso I Commission, Germany's Günter Verheugen (enterprise and industry), Ireland's Charlie McCreevy (internal market) and Bulgaria's Meglena Kuneva (consumer protection), assumed corporate jobs.

The companies involved may profit from the former roles of their new employees, having hired them less than a year after they had left office at the European Commission, alleges a Transparency International (TI) press release.