On Thursday 8 June, the European Commission unveiled its proposal to set up, via an Interinstitutional Agreement, a European Ethics Body that would be limited to drawing up common standards on ethics and integrity in public life, which the participating EU institutions and bodies would be responsible for applying to their own political leaders, but not to staff.
Our proposal aims, “for the first time of the history of the EU [to] create a truly interinstitutional body to raise the standards of ethical conduct of European politicians”, welcomed the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Values, Vĕra Jourová (see EUROPE 13195/23).
The Commission suggests that the nine EU institutions and bodies (European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, Council of the EU, Court of Justice of the EU, European Central Bank, European Court of Auditors, European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions) listed in Article 13 TEU and, potentially, the European Investment Bank should sit on the future European Body.
The areas in which the new body would be responsible for drawing up common standards are as follows: - professional activities carried out in parallel with a political mandate and post-mandate; - declarations of financial interests and assets; - gifts and prizes received, hospitality and travel rules; - transparency in meetings with stakeholders; - implementing and complying with common ethical standards.
In addition to developing standards in these areas, the European Body would promote the exchange of best practice in ethics among its own members. Each participating EU institution and body will then be obliged to apply the agreed standards to its own members, as the Body is not empowered to conduct its own investigations or adopt specific sanctions.
“The granting of such powers is not possible under the European Treaty”, explained Ms Jourová. But “the Body won’t be toothless”, she assured us, since it will be able to assess the way in which stakeholders comply with the common standards and make these assessments public.
An EU institution or body sitting on the future Body could also refer the matter to the EU Court of Justice if it considers that another member is not complying with common standards.
The creation of a European Ethics Body is included in the roadmap that Ms Jourová received in 2019 at the start of the von der Leyen Commission’s term of office. Asked about the slowness of the Commission’s internal work despite the urgent need to react to the ‘Qatargate’ scandal, the Vice-President referred to the very strong initial reluctance of the EU institutions and bodies concerned, apart from the EESC and the Committee of the Regions, as well as the discordant voices coming from the European Parliament.
She urged the EU institutions and bodies to act quickly to approve the draft Interinstitutional Agreement as soon as possible. The Commission will convene a meeting of the EU institutions and bodies concerned on Monday 3 July.
Ms Jourová also pointed out that “with the European elections in only a year’s time, it is pointless to propose something that will never see the light of day”.
Once this is the case, the composition of the Body (one representative per EU institution and body + five experts) should be decided within 3 months and the standards 6 months later. Such a timetable would make it possible to have a European Ethics Body, as proposed on Thursday, in place by the time of the European elections.
Discontent. Several political groups in the European Parliament - S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left - have strongly criticised the Commission for its lack of ambition and have called for the European Ethics Body to be given the power to investigate and impose sanctions.
“The Commission has come out with something that is totally underwhelming, underpowered and uninspired after dragging its feet for years”, said Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German), who led the discussions on a specific European Parliament resolution in 2021 (see EUROPE 12792/9). In his view, “self-regulation by politicians and officials simply does not work”. He advocated that the European Parliament and the Commission move forward, together with willing EU institutions and bodies, to set up a more robust Ethics Body before the European elections.
For the S&D group, Germany’s Gaby Bischoff spoke of a “complete missed opportunity”, while Portugal’s Pedro Marques accused European Parliament President Roberta Metsola of letting the EPP group block any ambitious reform. At the request of the Social Democrats, this issue will be debated at the European Parliament plenary session on Tuesday 13 June.
The chairman of the Renew Europe group, Stéphane Séjourné, also criticised the attitude of the Christian Democrats, calling on them to “stop burying their heads in the sand and learn the lessons of the ‘Qatargate’ scandal”.
On the other hand, the EPP Group welcomed the Commission’s proposal. Taking the view that a European Ethics Body would not have prevented the ‘Qatargate’ scandal, Germany’s Sven Simon warned against the “politicisation” of a body that could turn into “a Polish-style disciplinary chamber for MEPs”, in reference to the disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court, whose procedures and powers infringe EU law.
See the European Commission’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/7cq (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)