Kroes files closed: EU no longer probing ex-Uber lobbyist
Dutch politician and former European digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes won’t face any more heat from the European Union over her work as Uber's lobbyist after leaving her EU post.
The European Commission said Thursday it had closed its own inquiry into Kroes’ actions, after the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) found no breach of rules late last year. “In the absence of any other elements, the Commission did not see any reason for further follow-up and closed the case,” Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said in a statement.
Kroes lobbied on behalf of the ride-hailing company by offering to set up meetings between EU officials and company executives during her "cooling-off" period after leaving the Commission, from November 2014 until May 2016, according to leaked messages from Uber. It was just one aspect of the company’s aggressive lobbying tactics revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in July 2022 in the “Uber Files” investigation.
The files, disclosed by Uber's former chief lobbyist for Europe Mark MacGann, prompted fresh outcry over what critics called the EU's revolving door between the public and private sector and over weak enforcement of EU rules to limit conflicts of interest.
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The Commission previously said repeatedly that it was “looking into the matter” — including formally calling on Kroes to clarify her actions — before OLAF announced its own investigation.
Indeed, the Commission acknowledged that Kroes had asked permission to start working for Uber before her cooling-off ended, but withdrew her application after then-president Jean-Claude Juncker tipped her off that the Commission’s ethics committee had given a thumbs-down.
OLAF’s inquiry “did not establish any breach of the applicable rules and has therefore been closed without recommendations,” the agency said in a statement, adding that it had submitted its final report to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In a statement alerting Dutch media to the OLAF decision in December, Kroes said her work for Uber was part of her approved role as a special envoy for a Dutch government initiative meant to help startups.
“Even though I knew from day one that I had done nothing wrong, it is nevertheless very pleasant that this whole issue is now behind us, once and for all, and that I am fully cleared of any kind of blame,” she said.