Following consultation with the relevant committee and the European Parliament’s Data Protection Officer, the Bureau of the European Parliament finalised the revision of its internal rules on Monday evening (20 November), with the aim of providing better protection for whistleblowers and combating harassment more effectively.
European Parliament staff will be able to report serious irregularities, anonymously if necessary, either to their superiors or the Secretary-General of the EU institution, or to external bodies such as OLAF.
As soon as the regulation governing the Staff Regulations of the EU institutions is brought into line with the European ‘Whistleblowers’ directive, European Parliament staff will be better informed of the steps to take if they wish to report a malfunction or irregularity, and of the outcome of the procedure they have initiated. As a matter of principle, raising an alert should not be considered an offence against the disclosure of confidential information, provided that certain conditions are met, the European Parliament stresses in a press release.
Staff with a management role will receive mandatory training on whistleblowing, and specific training for assistants is also planned.
Harassment. Here again, following consultations, the Bureau of the European Parliament has clarified the internal rules for combating harassment. Among the measures taken are the introduction of deadlines and provisions to guarantee the impartiality of the rapporteur and the protection of witnesses, and to clarify the composition of the relevant internal committee and the information provided to the President of the Parliament. Twice during each legislative term, the Bureau will receive a report on the harassment situation within the EU institution.
Other specific measures against harassment had already been approved in July (see EUROPE 13220/27).
The new rules are part of a package of measures designed to strengthen the integrity and transparency of the European Parliament’s work in the wake of the ‘Qatargate’ scandal of alleged corruption of MEPs by third countries (see EUROPE 13200/26). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)