On Thursday 31 January, the European Parliament voted in favour of amending its Rules of Procedure to increase transparency on interactions between its members and representatives of interest groups. On the other hand, it rejected amendments aimed at laying down certain rules to prevent the formation of 'false' political groups (see EUROPE 12183, 12181).
The European Parliament can claim victory: it has adopted with flying colours (496 votes in favour, 114 against and 33 abstentions) the report by Richard Corbett (S&D, UK) updating its Rules of Procedure. The request of the EFDD Group to refer the report back to the relevant parliamentary committee was rejected (402 votes against the referral back to committee, 228 in favour and 15 abstentions).
Transparency. Amendment 20, which was fiercely debated, overcame the hurdle of the plenary session, despite the controversial request of the EPP Group to hold a secret vote on two parts of this amendment.
The new provisions provide that MEPs "should adopt the systematic practice" of meeting only representatives of interest groups officially registered in the European Transparency Register (established by the agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission).
The second part of the amendment (adopted by secret ballot with 380 votes in favour, 224 against and 26 abstentions) stipulates that MEPs "should publish online" all planned meetings with registered interest representatives.
Rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs and parliamentary committee chairpersons will be required to publish, for each report, a list of all planned meetings with registered interest representatives. The European Parliament Bureau will have to provide the necessary infrastructure for this purpose on the Parliament website.
According to rapporteur Richard Corbett, the EPP asked for a secret vote to hide members within the EPP who "vote against publishing the details of their meetings with lobbyists and large companies". "Fortunately, their tactics failed and those who were fighting for more transparency won", he said.
Overhead costs. The Bureau will have to provide the necessary infrastructure on the Members' page of the Parliament's website for those Members who wish to publish "voluntarily" an audit or confirmation to show that their use of the general expense allowance is "in accordance with the applicable rules of the Statute for Members".
Standards of conduct. Under the new rules, MEPs will have to refrain from any inappropriate behaviour (e. g. displaying banners in plenary), offensive language (defamation, hate speech or incitement to discrimination) and psychological or sexual harassment.
Parliament's code of conduct will now be annexed to the Rules of Procedure and Members will have to undertake, in a written declaration, to comply with it.
Refusing to sign such a declaration could result in a Member being banned from holding a high-level position, being appointed rapporteur or representing the Parliament in a trilogue or official delegation. Any serious breach of these rules could result in penalties.
Occasional political groups. The amendments by Jo Leinen (S&D, Germany), Charles Goerens (ALDE, Luxembourg) and György Schöpflin (EPP, Hungary) aimed at avoiding the formation of artificial political groups were rejected by a narrow majority (354 votes for these amendments, 267 against and 27 abstentions, but 376 were needed).
However, the new rules provide that all members of a newly formed political group must declare that they share the same political affinities.
An organisation must meet specific conditions to become a European political party or a European political foundation. A group of at least 50 citizens may require the Parliament to request the competent authority to verify whether a party or foundation meets these conditions.
The Bureau should adopt an action plan on gender equality to integrate this dimension into all Parliament activities.
The new provisions of the Rules of Procedure will enter into force on the first day of the next session following their adoption, i.e. 11 February 2019. Certain provisions relating to the conduct of Members, standing committees and committee members will enter into force at the beginning of the next parliamentary term on 2 July 2019. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)