The Qatar corruption scandal engulfing the European Parliament is spurring a raft of new rules to shed more light on the workings of lawmakers and their contacts with foreign powers, lobbyists and other outsiders.
(Bloomberg) — The Qatar corruption scandal engulfing the European Parliament is spurring a raft of new rules to shed more light on the workings of lawmakers and their contacts with foreign powers, lobbyists and other outsiders.
Roberta Metsola, the assembly’s president, is poised to propose 14 measures including stripping access badges from former members of parliament, introducing a temporary limit on their lobbying activity and publishing information on lawmakers’ meetings, gifts and reprimands.
The crackdown, which needs to be approved by heads of political groups, follows a sprawling money-laundering and corruption scandal that has led to arrests of multiple past and present European Parliament lawmakers including ousted Vice President Eva Kaili. Earlier in January, Metsola started an “urgent procedure” to waive the immunity of two more members suspected of involvement in the affair.
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The new measures are aimed at bringing more transparency to the lawmakers’ activity and will also cover their staff as well as make any misconduct more difficult, according to a parliament official.
The rules will include a “revolving door” policy to prevent ex-lawmakers engaging in lobbying activity for a number of months equal to the number of years they’d served in the assembly. That period may be extended following consultations, the official said. The parliament will seek to introduce stronger entry checks on visitors and their meetings with lawmakers, which then will be cross-referenced against their activity.
The parliament will also restrict “friendship groups” used by some lawmakers to promote relations with third countries in parallel to official committees, often creating confusion about the institution’s position. The lawmakers will have to provide more information on their involvement in outside activities which can become conflict of interest. Staff will receive training on compliance.
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