A quote from Corporate Europe Observatory, 9 March 2007

In the list of special [European Commission] advisers, the name of Mr. Etienne Davignon stands out as an another case where conflicts of interest seem very likely to occur. Mr. Davignon advises Development Commissioner Louis Michel on “Africa policy, in particular the role of the private sector in the economic development of sub-sahara Africa” and is also supposed to “mobilise the private sector for development policies”. Etienne Davignon sits on the board of water and electricity giant Suez. According to the Suez website, he holds 11,111 Suez shares, which are currently worth more than 350,000 euro. Suez is active in sub-Saharan Africa and has a clear agenda of promoting the privatisation of public services like electricity, water supply or garbage collection.