A powerful former EU climate official failed to seek permission from the European Commission before taking a job with a major gas network operator, in defiance of ethics rules.
Diederik Samsom announced Wednesday he had accepted the post of chair of the supervisory board at Dutch state-owned firm Gasunie.
Under Commission rules designed to prevent undue industry influence, exiting officials must seek permission from the EU executive to take up a role related to their previous work.
“Due to an error on my part, the position was not correctly notified to the Commission in a timely manner. I very much regret that,” Samsom said in a statement sent by Gasunie. He told POLITICO he had realized his error Wednesday morning and by that evening had submitted a formal request to Brussels.
