Martin Ehrenhauser

With the bankruptcy of the investment bank Lehmann Brothers, 25,000 people lost their jobs and the worldwide banking sector found itself on the razor’s edge. But who was held accountable? Was it bankers, the banking supervision system or politicians? In any case it was not John Llewellyn. The former Senior Economic Policy Advisor and Managing Director of Lehmann Brothers is currently an external consultant at the “Bureau of European Policy Advisors” (BEPA) and advises the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso on questions of national economy.

In addition to his cabinet, the Portuguese Barroso presides over this exclusive, non-transparent board. The names of the participants of the meetings are often unknown. If required, the board applies the so called “Chatham House Rule”, which assures anonymity to the members. The board in charge of consulting is booming. A parliamentary question reveals that the expenses for the BEPA administrative staff members amounted to more than 4 million Euros in 2009. Compared to 2004 there is an explosion of personnel expenditures of almost 50%. However, it must be mentioned that external consultants are entitled to reimbursement of their expenses only. But it is rather new to me that highly paid managers work just in return for a reimbursement of their expenses. There is a win-situation only if neutral consulting turns into targeted exertion of influence.

Apropos lobbying: the lobbyist Ernst Strasser, disguised as an MEP, is the new chairman of the “Club du Bois”. Therefore his goal is to influence the EU-decision-makers and pursue the interests of timber and furniture industry. Thus, he represents the interests of the biggest European owners of forests and their manufacture industry, e.g. the Prince of Liechtenstein or the Mayr-Melnhof dynasty in Austria. As a chairman, Mr. Strasser is inviting all the MEPs and their assistants to an event in the European Parliament on April 16 – “It is an opportunity to conduct direct conversations with the representatives of the industry.” A dinner at “Chez Yvonne” will follow afterwards for all participants. Does Ernst Strasser earn any money in his function as a chairman? Please address your questions directly to ernst.strasser@europarl.europa.eu.