In a new alliance between Christian Democrats, conservatives and far-right MEPs in the European Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), on Wednesday 14 May the EPP, ECR, PfE and ESN groups rejected the draft report by Sven Simon (EPP, German) aimed at clarifying Parliament’s working arrangements with the future European Ethics Body (see EUROPE 13639/32).
This rejection does not deal a fatal blow to Parliament’s participation in the European Ethics Body, since the EU institution remains party to the Interinstitutional Agreement establishing this new body. But it further delays the appointment of experts to sit on it alongside representatives of the EU institutions and bodies that are party to the Interinstitutional Agreement, and therefore the start of the European body’s work, since Parliament is supposed to convene its constituent meeting.
After the vote, in order to break the deadlock, Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) suggested that Mr Simon, who chairs the AFCO committee, seek a formal opinion from the Legal Service on the possibility of moving forward without first amending Parliament’s rules of procedure.
“The European Parliament must withdraw from the ‘Ethics Body’ and establish firm and robust internal mechanisms for [the] integrity” of public life, said Romanian MEP Loránt Vincze, speaking on behalf of the EPP group, in a statement. In his opinion, the European Ethics Body, as negotiated, lacks transparency, “the first condition for any institution of the sort”. And he went on to add: “Instead of new structures, we should strengthen existing law enforcement agencies like the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), alongside our national judiciaries”.
There is a real rift with the other groups which, with the EPP, are supposed to form the majority in the centre of the political spectrum. For Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spanish), “Conservatives are quick to call for transparency for NGOs, but they hate the idea when it might be applied to them”, criticising their discreet delaying tactics which prevent them from “openly ask[ing] for a formal withdrawal“.
Speaking on behalf of the Renew Europe group, Sandro Gozi of Italy said Wednesday’s vote showed that the Christian Democrats were “against the very principle” of the European Ethics Body and that “they are willing to work with the radical right to kill it”, while Parliament’s president, Maltese Christian Democrat Roberta Metsola, has been personally involved in developing clear standards and greater transparency for the behaviour of political leaders after the Qatargate scandal. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)