In Strasbourg on Wednesday 5 October, the Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament presented its programme to enhance transparency and integrity within the Parliament. The group regrets the fact that, due to the attitude of the larger political groups, the adoption of the report by Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) on the subject has been blocked.
The Parliament has now been negotiating the 'transparency, integrity and accountability in EU institutions' report for nearly a year. It is ready to be put to the vote, but three large political groups (Conservatives, Liberals and Social Democrats) are blocking the adoption of the Giegold report. However, these three groups are negotiating on the changes to be made to the procedural rules of the European Parliament, before voting on Giegold's report. "The obvious objective is to avoid or delay the implementation of all changes in the European Parliament itself", the Greens conclude.
The group therefore presented its transparency and integrity plan, which consists of 46 amendments tabled in the framework of the report by Richard Corbett on the revision of the procedural rules within the Parliament. The plan looks at various issues: employment outside the Parliament, employment following a term of office, contact with lobbyists on legislation, the financial interests of members of the European Parliament, sanctions in the event of infringements of the ethical rules and relations between the Parliament and the other institutions.
Obligatory register of lobbyists. The aim is to prevent MEPs from meeting lobbyists not on the transparency register. This, furthermore, corresponds to a Commission proposal (see EUROPE 11634). It is proposed that MEPs publish meetings with pressure groups on the internet.
Legislative footprint. The aim is to set up lists of lobbyists consulted when drafting reports. MEPs may already do this, and the idea would be to encourage lobbyists to register by requiring rapporteurs and committee chairs to publish these lists.
Additionally, the Greens suggest tightening up the rules on the jobs taken by MEPs after their term in office, to include an obligation to notify their new positions, and they call upon the Parliament to publish the results of trialogue negotiations on legislative dossiers. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)