Van Buitenen ‘will stick to mandate’ despite criticism

By Martin Banks

Date: 08/07/04

PAUL van Buitenen, the whistleblower who triggered the resignation of the Santer Commission in 1999, says he wants to be considered a serious MEP, even though he admits he will play only a limited role in the new European Parliament.

Van Buitenen, who was elected in last month's European elections, will sit with the Greens/European Free Alliance group as an independent.

The 34-strong group offered the Dutchman a seat on the assembly's influential budgetary control committee, a position he says he will use to combat fraud in EU institutions.

But he has been criticised for insisting he will largely be a single-issue MEP, abstaining from the majority of Parliamentary votes and limiting his attendance at plenary sessions.

A UK MEP, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's irresponsible. I wonder if the people who voted for him realized they were electing a part-time MEP?"

But van Buitenen said: "I made it very clear to the Dutch voters in the election campaign what I will and won't do in the new legislature and I will stick to this.

"I did not take part in this week's votes for internal positions in the Greens group because it doesn't interest me. I will only vote or give speeches and produce reports on issues that are connected to transparency and openness in the EU.

"Nor do I have any intention of attending committee meetings other than budgetary control or all the plenary sessions."

But he added that he wants to be considered a "serious MEP". "I don't want to obstruct the Parliament's work. I know all the questions that have to be asked and I am going to get some answers."

Van Buitenen's Europa Transparent party won 7.3% of the national vote in the Netherlands in the election. Els De Groen, second on his list, was also elected.

He describes himself as a Eurocritic, rather than a Eurosceptic, which is why he chose not to join the Parliament's new, 31-strong Eurosceptic group, Independence and Democracy.

But van Buitenen has come under fire for refusing to do as other Dutch MEPs traditionally do and sign a code of conduct whereby unused travel expenses are returned to the Parliament's coffers.

He said: "I will not pocket any expenses I do not need but I'm annoyed I have been pressured to sign this declaration."

However, outgoing Dutch Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten, who paid back €27,000 in unused travel expenses over the course of the last Parliament, accused van Buitenen of hypocrisy. "He should put his money where his mouth is. He was elected on a pledge to clean up Brussels but by refusing to sign this code of conduct he risks losing all credibility," van Hulten said.

Articles discusses the newly elected MEP, Paul van Buitenen, who, as a former European Commission employee, was the whistleblower who triggered the resignation of the Commission in 1999. He says he wants to be seen as a serious MEP but will only play a limited role in the new European Parliament dealing with issues of openness and transparency.

• Primary Source

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