The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, has applauded the initiative of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, although she has called for greater transparency in the reform process to avoid bribery after the Qatar corruption scandal infiltrated the institution.
In a letter to the president of the institution, O’Reilly applauds the proposal to improve oversight and compliance with the ethical rules of the European Parliament, specifically highlights measures such as setting a period of incompatibility of MEPs to work in ‘lobby’ tasks involving the European Parliament, a rule that can serve to curb the revolving doors.
However, he calls for the reforms to be broader and more ambitious and for the whole process to be carried out with maximum transparency. «If the aim is to regain public confidence, a key element will be to ensure that this reform process is as transparent as possible,» he says, stressing the need for a timetable and more details on how the institution will follow up on the proposals on the table.
In this regard, the European Ombudsman demands that all meetings of MEPs and their advisors with interest groups and representatives of third countries be made public and applauds the elimination of ‘friendship groups’ with other countries, as «it will help to avoid confusion with the official activities of the Parliament».
It also calls for increasing the independence and resources of the Advisory Committee that regulates the European Parliament’s code of conduct to ensure that it monitors, investigates and ensures compliance with ethical rules.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
