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Michel Petite, head ot the European Union’s ethics committee tasked with the monitoring of the influence of lobbyists, resigned on December 18, because “his position had become untenable” due to a conflict of interest, notes De Standaard.
Last year, Green MEPs José Bové and Bart Staes revealed that while working as a lawyer for the firm Clifford Chance, Petite had on two occasions represented the interests of tobacco producer Philip Morris in meetings with the European Commission.
Following a complaint filed by three NGOs last February, the European ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, advised the Commission to replace Petite, and insisted that even the slightest suspicion of a conflict of interest was “unacceptable”.
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