Prime Minister of Romania, Dacian Ciolos, is still receiving pay from the commission | Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Two years after their work ended, Commissioners still get paid The payments were designed to prevent Commissioners from changing into well-paid industry jobs immediately after leaving office.

BERLIN – Although they left office in 2014, 16 former EU Commissioners from José Manuel Barroso's Commission still receive monthly payments of at least €8,333 each, German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reports.

The original idea behind the payments was to avoid conflicts of interest and to prevent Commissioners from changing into well-paid industry jobs immediately after leaving office. Ironically, many of the Commissioners who according to Die Zeit currently receive "transitional allowance," have long gone back into working in well-paid positions as lobbyists, managers, or in other political offices.

The names on the list, seen by POLITICO, include Karel De Gucht, currently on the supervisory board of steel company ArcelorMittal and telecommunication company Proximus, and Connie Hedegaard, a member of the supervisory board of energy company Danfoss, as well as Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, who served as stand-in Commissioner for around four months in 2014, and Dacian Cioloș, now Prime Minister of Romania.

Earlier this year, the maximum length of the benefits, which are based on a regulation from 1967, was shortened from three to two years, although that only applies to new appointments and re-appointments.

Here's the full list:

Joaquín Almunia Amann, Spain

László Andor, Hungary

Tonio Borg, Malta

Dacian Cioloș, Romania

Maria Damanaki, Greece

Karel De Gucht, Belgium

Jacek Dominik, Poland

Štefan Füle, Czech Republic

Connie Hedegaard, Denmark

Siim Kallas, Estonia

Janusz Lewandowski, Poland

Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, Italy

Andris Piebalgs, Latvia

Janez Potočnik, Slovenia

Algirdas Šemeta, Lithuania

Androulla Vassiliou, Cyprus