MEPs dismissed the European Commission’s plans for a new EU Ethics Body as unsatisfactory and toothless in the latest row over transparency reforms following the Qatargate scandal.
On Wednesday (12 July), MEPs voted 365 to 270 for a resolution that described the draft ethics agreement as “unsatisfactory and not ambitious enough, falling short of a genuine ethics body”.
Negotiations between the EU institutions are ongoing on the Commission’s June proposal for a new Ethics Body.
The proposal for a new body, which was on the key demands made by MEPs following the Qatargate corruption scandal, which broke last December, would set common standards for the ethical conduct of members and a formal mechanism for coordination and exchange of views on ethical requirements among institutions.
That will include rules on accepting gifts, hospitality and travel offered by third parties.
The regime will also set rules to regulate side jobs held by lawmakers and their financial interests, as well as transparency requirements for meetings with lobbyists and former MEPs.
However, it would not deal with individual investigations, which will be left in the hands of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and national police and judicial authorities. Meanwhile, MEPs complain that the meagre €600,000 budget proposed by the Commission for the new body demonstrates the lack of seriousness in the EU executive’s proposal.
Meanwhile, the Parliament’s bureau, which manages the institution’s internal structures, has introduced a series of new rules to increase transparency, including bans on parliamentary passes for former MEPs, mandatory reporting of MEPs financial interests, and much tougher rules governing the access of lobbyists and interest groups to access and host meetings in Parliament.
The moves follow the Qatargate scandal, which saw the arrest of a handful of Socialist MEPs, past and present, over allegations that they had received hundreds of thousands of euros in exchange for political favours from Qatar and Morocco. The investigations and criminal proceedings are ongoing.
Stéphane Séjourné, who leads the centrist Renew Europe, pinned the blame on the EPP, stating that “by not voting in favour of this resolution, the EPP is showing us how ethics and transparency do not count for them.”
“The European institutions must have an EU Ethics body, but not at any price. This body must have investigative powers and be independent. We cannot explain to the citizens that we are setting up a toothless body, even less so after the Qatargate scandal,” he added.
The Parliament is also divided on whether to prevent MEPs from holding side jobs. On Wednesday, MEPs voted down an amendment by the Left group, with the support of the Socialist and Democrat and Green groups, to include a ban in the resolution on the Ethics Body.
Another attempt to obtain a majority against second jobs will be made on Thursday when MEPs vote on the recommendations on transparency in the Parliament made by the committee on foreign interference.
MEPs say that the ethics body should be able to investigate alleged breaches of ethical rules and have the authority to investigate alleged breaches of ethics rules on its own initiative and deal with individual cases if a participating institution or any of its members request it, they underline.
They argue that the new body should also be able to issue recommendations for sanctions, which should be made public.
Talks on the Ethics Body are expected to be concluded by the end of the year, say officials.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
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