The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has noted the advisory opinion of the ad-hoc ethical committee in relation to the decision of former Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to take up a senior position with Goldman Sachs bank. A number of issues in particular are noteworthy at this stage.

1. The Committee acknowledges that reputational damage was done both to the Commission and to the wider EU yet states that, legally, Mr Barroso did not breach the Code of Conduct

2. The Committee says that it is not its role to determine if the Code of Conduct is sufficiently strict.

3. The Committee appears to have based its inquiry solely on its reading of three documents already in the public domain[1]. There is no evidence, at least