The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups (CoP) held a first round of discussions on Thursday 12 January on President Roberta Metsola’s 14 proposals to strengthen the integrity of the European Parliament in response to the alleged corruption scandal (see EUROPE 13097/2).
“Our aim is to move ahead fast. These immediate reforms are the first steps in rebuilding trust in European decision-making, and the launch of a wider reform of the European Parliament”, Ms Metsola said after the meeting.
According to her spokesperson, Jüri Laas, Ms Metsola was given a “mandate” by the CoP to move forward on the proposals presented, as the group Chairs were unanimous on the importance of moving quickly.
See Ms Metsola’s 14 proposals: https://aeur.eu/f/4ve
Although the President of the assembly did not explain her proposals point by point, the political groups generally felt that this was a good basis for work and many wanted to go further.
Several groups have embarked on a parallel process of developing proposals. In particular, the S&D group, the most affected by the scandal, has put forward ideas complementing those of Ms Metsola, which will be further fed into by its national delegations. For example, the social democrats support the obligation for all MEPs, their assistants and staff to meet only with representatives of interest groups listed in the European Transparency Register, with financial links between these interest groups and third countries to be regularly checked.
The Greens/EFA group also made its position clear in a letter to Ms Metsola on Thursday evening. Among other things, it recommends that MEPs publish a declaration of financial interests both at the beginning and at the end of their mandate.
See the position of the Greens/EFA Group: https://aeur.eu/f/4vl
At the CoP, EPP group Chair Manfred Weber of Germany called for a strengthening of the sanctions an MEP could face in the event of a criminal conviction, such as the loss of pension rights.
On behalf of the Renew Europe group, Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné said it was necessary to strengthen protection for whistleblowers in the Parliament, a concern shared by the Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA group, Philippe Lamberts from Belgium, who also called for tougher sanctions, especially financial ones. He also called for an end to paid ‘side jobs’ for MEPs. Assita Kanko (ECR, Belgian), on the contrary, opposed the prohibition of such activities.
Marco Zanni (ID, Italian) did not reject the idea of ending the informal ‘friendship groups’ with third countries that MEPs set up, but stressed the importance of freedom of mandate.
Finally, the Co-President of The Left group, Frenchwoman Manon Aubry, called for the creation of a special committee to assess the European Parliament’s shortcomings in terms of integrity and ethics, an approach that would allow for a public debate on the issue. Agreeing on the issue of whistleblowers, she also called for the appointment of an anti-corruption Vice President.
Mr Weber and Ms Kanko called for Andrea Cozzolino (S&D, Italian) to resign from his position as Chair of the EU-Maghreb parliamentary delegation. Next week in Strasbourg, MEPs are expected to waive his parliamentary immunity and that of Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgian), whose home was searched (see EUROPE 13091/10).
European Parliament urgent resolutions under scrutiny. The inherent shortcomings of the Parliament’s urgent resolutions (too many, too long, catch-all content) on human rights were mentioned.
The EPP group calls for a temporary halt to the adoption of such resolutions, such as the work of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, which is at the centre of the corruption scandal, until the judicial enquiry has been completed. This position worries civil society, such as the FIDH, which fears a negative impact on the positions taken in good faith by the European Parliament on violations committed in the world. “If we do not get to the bottom of this affair and root out the corrupt network that has infiltrated the human rights work inside the European Parliament, the integrity of the Parliament’s positions on any human rights case cannot be guaranteed”, Mr Weber said in a message sent to Catherine Absalom, FIDH Advocacy Officer, and seen by EUROPE.
The S&D, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA groups want to keep the European Parliament’s urgent resolutions with a better framework.
Ms Metsola noted that the rules in this area were not being followed. She has decided that from the plenary session starting on Monday 16 January, urgent resolutions exceeding 500 words will be considered inadmissible.
For the time being, the CoP will be responsible for steering this work, which should be carried out as quickly as possible. Ms Metsola did not rule out the possibility of setting up a committee of inquiry in the medium term once the judicial process is finalised.
NGOs are still not satisfied. On Thursday, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), which monitors the activities of European lobbies, said some of Ms Metsola’s reform proposals were promising, such as rules to prevent the post-mandate revolving door and a requirement for all MEPs to report on meetings with outsiders. However, they are “far from a guarantee that there will be no more scandals in the future”, it said.
“Much more needs to be done to prevent the interference of repressive regimes in the decision-making process”, according to CEO, which calls for “legislation requiring foreign governments and their lobbyists to publish their contracts - an EU-wide foreign agent registration law - as already exists in Australia and the US”. New ethical rules are also needed to prevent public affairs and other firms from working for repressive regimes that violate human rights.
Transparency International expressed similar concerns, and on Wednesday published a first assessment of the proposed measures. These proposals are a big step in the right direction, according to the organisation, which regrets some important shortcomings. “The proposals continue to rely entirely on self-enforcement. We know that doesn’t work. Independent, external input is needed”, summarises the organisation, which believes “there is too much emphasis on the role of assistants”.
See Transparency International’s position: https://aeur.eu/f/4vm (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Lionel Changeur)