On Wednesday 25 February, seven NGOs published an open letter calling for the resignation of Aura Salla (EPP, Finnish) from her position as rapporteur on the ‘omnibus’ legislation simplifying data regulation in the Industry Committee (ITRE). At issue: her past as a lobbyist for Meta, between 2020 and 2023, which NGOs denounce as a conflict of interest.
“Appointing a former Big Tech lobbyist to oversee both the revision and weakening [of European data legislation] raises serious questions about undue influence over the legislative process,” they write.
The signatories also denounce the opacity of her declaration of awareness of conflict of interest in her role as rapporteur, in which “she failed to indicate her previous work at Meta as a potential conflict of interest”.
“The appointment of Ms Salla [...] is not just perplexing, it is highly misguided,” the NGOs maintain.
When questioned, the MEP denied any conflict of interest: “I have fully complied with all transparency requirements and have no financial or personal interests that could constitute a conflict of interest,” she declared.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/kxa (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)