The Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Values, Vĕra Jourová, has confirmed that on Thursday 8 June she will present the proposal for an interinstitutional agreement to create a European Ethics Body to develop high common standards of ethics and integrity in public life (see EUROPE 13187/26).
In “two days”, we will present the competences of this unprecedented “European Ethics Body”, said Ms Jourová at a conference organised by the European Ombudsman. This body, which will bring together nine institutions or bodies of the European Union (article 13 TEU), will aim to contribute to the emergence of a common culture by drawing up standards to be applied by the specialised bodies of each institution and body.
The European Parliament would also like the future body to be authorised to conduct investigations into specific cases.
At the preparatory meeting for the College of Commissioners’ discussion on Wednesday, the European Commissioners’ Heads of Cabinet asked on Tuesday whether the proposed measures would be sufficient to meet the challenges and help restore the confidence of Europe’s citizens. They concluded that the Commission’s room for manoeuvre is narrow, insofar as the proposal will have to respect institutional autonomy. But nothing will prevent a participating institution or body from imposing stricter ethical standards.
According to our information, the future body will be made up of one representative (+ one alternate) per EU institution or body at vice-presidency level. For the EU Council, this representative could be the Secretary of State for European Affairs of the country holding the six-monthly Presidency.
On Tuesday, Ms Jourová pointed out that it had not been easy to convince all the EU institutions and bodies. In particular, she noted that the European Parliament’s political groups remain divided on the issue, even after the ‘Qatargate’ scandal regarding the alleged corruption of MEPs by third countries such as Qatar and Morocco. These institutions and bodies have “different competences and sensitivities”, she added.
The Director General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Ville Itälä, expressed support for the Commission’s initiative. “It is important not to duplicate work”, he said, pointing out that OLAF, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Belgian judiciary were involved in the ‘Qatargate’ investigation. On Tuesday, Belgian police searched the offices of MEPs Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, according to Politico.
Mr Itälä also stressed the importance of applying the existing rules. He criticised the European Parliament’s failure to respect the 2019 interinstitutional agreement by refusing OLAF access to MEPs’ offices and their IT equipment. “Let us do our job, that would be a big step forward!”, he added.
The Court of Justice of the EU would not have signed the 2019 interinstitutional agreement either.
Loss of momentum in the European Parliament’s internal reform?
Earlier in the day at the European Parliament, the Greens/EFA group and civil society organisations reviewed the measures taken internally in response to ‘Qatargate’.
Six months after President Roberta Metsola presented 14 measures, only two of them - a six-month waiting period and compulsory inclusion in the European Transparency Register for interest representatives taking part in European Parliament events - have been approved, noted Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) (see EUROPE 13164/26). He also called for greater supervision of the application of existing ethical rules.
On behalf of LobbyControl, Nina Katzemich expressed her growing concern about the loss of momentum in the European Parliament’s internal reform and deplored the opacity of discussions on the issue. Transparency International EU made a similar point in a specific analysis, deploring the lack of progress in the fight against conflicts of interest, the regulation of lobbies and the protection of whistleblowers internally.
See TI EU’s analysis: https://aeur.eu/f/798
The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, also noted that after a swift response from Ms Metsola, the European Parliament is now slowed down by “a complex political, legal and administrative debate”. “Stopping self-regulation” could be the solution, she felt.
Less pessimistically, Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, French) hoped that MEPs would agree, by July, on a reform of the European Parliament’s rules of procedure that would be sufficiently ambitious to tackle conflicts of interest within the institution, starting with a definition of the term ‘conflict of interest’. The “traumatised” S&D group is our ally and wants ambitious rules insofar as several of its members are implicated in ‘Qatargate’, she said, regretting the problematic positioning of the Renew Europe group.
Finally, on behalf of the Council of Europe, Hanne Juncher felt that the EU could join the GRECO group of countries committed to fighting corruption. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)