Jean-Philippe Monod de Froideville
Dealt with letter from Ina/WK about RP
Former employer
DG Competition
Former function
Personal adviser to Commissioner Neelie Kroes (for 2 years)
New function
Associate director for competition
New employer
Interel (lobby consultancy)
Nationality
Netherlands
Policy area
Competition
Date of Revolving Door
01.11.2009
Institutional reaction
"I am pleased to inform you that the Appointing Authority gives you its approval to carry out this activity, as described in your request".
Other info
Monod de Froideville was a member of Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ cabinet where he advised on mergers and acquisitions in the financial services and health-related markets. When he left the Commission he set up his own consultancy called Monodceros, "providing services in the following: public relations, lobbying, media contacts, advice regarding relations with the political authorities, the government and the European institutions". Source: information from the National Bank of Belgium http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_tsv/tsv_rech.pl?language=fr&btw=0819021973&liste=Liste
He then went on to start work at Interel, a Brussels-based consultancy, as “Associate director within its growing European Affairs practice”. According to the Interel website, he led "Interel's Competition & Trade practice providing the support to clients in the often overlapping legal, economic and political field of anti-trust, state aid, mergers and general competition policy for clients across many sectors. Moreover, he led the Technology practice supporting clients in the digital space from software companies to hardware and technology service providers”. When he was recruited, Interel's Managing Director of the Brussels office said that his “strong network within the EU institutions and personal insight into the formal and informal European decision making process” would be “a tremendous asset to our clients”. Information from the Interel website, viewed 9 July 2012: http://www.interel.eu/en/monod.htm
Interel's 2011 client list included several companies working in the finance and health sectors including: ABI - Association of British Insurers and Mundipharma. Source: EU Transparency Register: http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/consultation/displaylobbyist.do?id=7028457765-59
More information is available in the ALTER-EU 2011 report: Block the revolving door - why we need to stop EU officials becoming lobbyists: http://www.alter-eu.org/revolving-doors
Mr Monod de Froideville noted to CEO, in Oct 2012, that "I am no longer working at Interel but since March 2012 working at Expedia as Director for Corporate & Government Affairs EMEA" and emphasised that "that in my current role I am working in a completely new field (tourism) with no overlap in any of my Commission activities while in the Cabinet."
Comment from CEO
"CEO considers that if the Commission had thoroughly explored all dimensions of Mr Monod de Froideville's consultancy work, they would have imposed a cooling-off period or at least some restrictions. His role to lead Interel's competition, trade, and technology practices represents a significant overlap with his work at DG Competition and the founding documents for Monodceros make very clear that he would be undertaking lobbying work with the EU institutions. The fact that he moved to Interel six months after he had left the Commission does not mean that this would prevent the risk of conflicts of interest from arising in the future."
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