On Thursday, 30 March, Vladimír Bilčík (EPP, Slovakian) and Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French) presented their recommendations to the Special Committee on Foreign Interference (ING2) for how to strengthen the integrity of the European Parliament. Following ‘Qatargate’, a draft report that aims to complement President Roberta Metsola’s proposals was prepared (see EUROPE 13141/23).
Beyond ‘Qatargate’, the objective is to “more effectively face countries such as Russia, China, and others, which have systematically tried to interfere in our work at all levels”, Mr Bilčík reminded his fellow MEPs.
While stressing the individual responsibility of each person, the report thus sets out a catalogue of measures to close “potential loopholes in the institutions’ rules and procedures that facilitate unlawful behaviour”.
“Security culture”
First and foremost, the rapporteurs call for the institution’s “security culture” to be reinforced. They propose, for example, that outside visitor [access to buildings] be controlled more, notably by introducing an ‘entry log’ (a record of visits).
In addition, they want to introduce a “security clearance” system for staff, especially for its members who work on sensitive political issues.
They also suggest that regular security—including IT security—and interference training be provided.
Trips and friendship groups
The report then calls for better guidelines for relations with non-EU countries and missions abroad to be set. In this respect, Mrs Loiseau indicates there is “confusion” between “official [European] Parliament activities that are subject to rules” and “informal initiatives when these are likely to harm the image” of the European Parliament.
The report also calls for a ban on informal friendship groups—some of which are “entry points for foreign interference”, with some exceptions—and calls for MEPs to be “vigilant” in the face of associations that can be vectors of undeclared influence by non-EU countries.
Integrity of the work
The report moreover calls for the integrity of parliamentary work to be preserved. Mrs Loiseau notes there is a “paradox” between the transparency demanded by the European Parliament, which has “sometimes made it easier for foreign interest representatives to act in a covert manner”, and the lack of openness with regard to the nature of MEPs’ work.
The rapporteurs would consequently like rapporteurs, especially those who work on international issues, to systematically publish a list of their interlocutors. They also envisage banning any prewritten amendment proposals from outside interests. The European Parliament is not “a copy-and-paste machine”, Mrs Loiseau hammered home.
Cooperation with institutions
Finally, the report reiterates the call for an independent, interinstitutional ethics body to be created (see EUROPE 13121/10) and calls for “any entities with direct or indirect relations” with the Russian and Chinese governments to be banned from the Transparency Register.
Although the report was well received, it is expected to be subject to amendments. For example, Andreas Schieder (S&D, Austrian) advocated balance, reminding his fellow MEPs that honest influence “is part of European democracy”. For their part, Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finnish) and Beata Szydło (ECR, Polish) suggested looking at the side jobs that MEPs have during their terms.
Nevertheless, Mr Bilčík called on his colleagues to be “realistic” and to focus on practical measures, without turning the report into a “Christmas tree of all the past resolutions”.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/64n (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)