In Strasbourg on Wednesday 13 September, MEPs will vote on the draft report by Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German), submitted by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) (see EUROPE 13245/12), on the reform of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure designed to strengthen the rules on transparency and ethics in parliamentary work.
Strong political pressure is being exerted on MEPs, who have been summoned by their President, Roberta Metsola, to respond vigorously to the ‘Qatargate’ scandal of alleged corruption of European elected representatives by third countries. For example, future rules should require MEPs and their assistants to be transparent about meetings with representatives of interest groups listed in the EU’s transparency register and with representatives of third countries. They will tighten up the concept of conflicts of interest in parliamentary work, requiring MEPs acting as rapporteurs and/or holding senior positions within the European Parliament to make specific declarations.
There will also be greater control over remuneration in excess of €5,000 gross per annum received outside their mandate, but without prohibiting it if the work carried out does not constitute lobbying directly linked to European legislative action.
“Being an MP is not a secondary job. In the case of additional salaried employment, transparency will be required”, stressed Ms Bischoff during the plenary debate on Monday 11 September. Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, French) added: “Total opacity on side jobs is not freedom of mandate!”. Clare Daly (The Left, Irish), on the other hand, criticised the report for not banning these secondary jobs, despite the fact that the European Parliament had advocated this in three indicative plenary votes.
Ms Bischoff also welcomed the new clear rules, particularly in financial terms, governing the informal friendship groups “which do not speak on behalf of the European Parliament”.
The outcome of the vote on all the measures remains uncertain, however, as the changes agreed by the parliamentary committee will require an absolute majority of MPs on Wednesday in order to be ratified.
New provisions validated by the AFCO Committee without the backing of the EPP Group and which are not the result of prior agreement between the main political groups will be scrutinised (see EUROPE 13220/28). This concerns: - transparency obligations for all Members, not just those playing an active parliamentary role; - declaration of assets; - the composition of the advisory committee responsible for proactively advising MEPs and the President of the European Parliament on compliance with the rules of procedure.
Questioned on Tuesday 12 September in Strasbourg, the chairman of the EPP group, Germany’s Manfred Weber, said that the Christian Democrats would decide on their position at a group meeting later that evening. He felt that some of the amendments approved by the AFCO Committee went beyond the fourteen points for reform submitted by Ms Metsola in early 2023 (see EUROPE 13224/6). “I would like to know Ms Metsola’s position on the PPE Group’s vote in the AFCO Committee. I hope that the EPP will take responsibility and, if it votes against again, it will have lost all credibility”, retorted Iratxe Garciá Pérez, Chair of the S&D group.
Advisory Committee. Ahead of the plenary vote, Rainer Wieland (EPP, Germany) has tabled an amendment to increase the membership of this advisory committee from 5 to 12 experienced MEPs, whose six-year term could extend beyond their elected mandate. This committee would take its decisions by an absolute majority without the participation of members whose country of origin or political group is involved in a case of infringement of the rules to be decided.
The Greens/EFA group is sticking to the composition of the committee as agreed by the parliamentary committee (five MEPs + three independent experts). However, it wishes to grant voting rights to the three independent experts. The Left group would like the three independent experts to make public recommendations, including possible sanctions, to the five MPs sitting on the committee. The latter would then base their decision on these recommendations, which could include sanctions applicable within 30 calendar days.
During the debate, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Polish), a member of the current advisory committee, agreed with Ms Metsola that the reform of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure could have gone further. Supporting more detailed rules for the committee, she said it had always believed in the “importance of prevention” against offences rather than punishment. Since 2010, the committee has been able to call on the advice of independent experts.
Finally, the Greens/EFA Group is calling for a rendez-vous clause at the beginning of 2027 to take stock of the implementation of the reform.
See the draft ‘Bischoff’ report: https://aeur.eu/f/8id (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, with the editorial staff)