Strasbourg, 21/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, once again at Wednesday's plenary in Strasbourg, referred to the demagogic campaign launched by the Austrian non-attached MEP Hans-Peter Martin. Cox indicated that on Monday evening he had received a letter form the MEP criticising the attendance registration system for expenses and making allegations about two political group meetings held outside the institutions' offices. This letter also referred to 7,000 cases of expenses applications for non-founded reasons but, as president Cox explained, "nothing suggests that MEPs had breached our rules…It would have been better if Mr Martin had supported the attempts for reform…rather than leading a campaign whose main objective is to discredit the institution and…denigrate individuals".
Mr Martin replied, saying, "You say that there is no proof that MEPs had breached the rules…It's up to you to decide if rules have been breached…But I categorically refute that there was no proof…as well as the accusations that I had launched a campaign. This is a European initiative for greater transparency". In connection to criticism of him having filmed his own colleagues with a hidden camera, he dismissed them with a slight of hand and referred to the microphone used by Danish Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the European Council in December 2002 in Copenhagen.
President Cox said to Martin that "You even name me and I reject this slander against me". Cox again insisted on the inadmissible character of the methods, particularly when they are claimed to be used for promoting transparency.