Kallas seeks higher ethical standards from MEPs

Date: 04/05/06

Administrative Affairs Commissioner Siim Kallas is planning to pressure MEPs to be more transparent about their financial interests by calling for minimum ethical standards for all officials working in EU institutions as well as setting up an independent advisory committee to judge cases of potential conflicts of interest.

Kallas told European Voice: "If you are a decision-maker, your interests must be visible."

A senior Commission official said that Kallas would re-launch plans first proposed in 2000 for common ethical standards by the end of the year. The initiative would take account of the current rules on disclosure of financial interests for national members of parliament. The Bureau of Economic Policy Advisors, the Commission's in-house think-tank, has been asked to draw up a study into existing national rules, he said.

At present at least two member states, the UK and Denmark, require ministers to declare financial interests. In the UK parliamentarians and their spouses are required to declare shareholdings, gifts and trips overseas, as well as property holdings.

The plan is to lay down the gauntlet to MEPs to raise transparency over their affairs and establish more of a level playing field with commissioners who feel they are subject to some of the strictest rules for public officials in the EU. The official said that the Commission wanted to create a "common ethical space" but it "stands or falls" on whether all institutions agreed it together. MEPs "could reject it but they can't ignore it", he said.

The comments came as Kallas, a Commission vice-president, unveiled a Green Paper on transparency for lobbyists yesterday (3 May).

The Commission wants to prevent irregularities in one EU institution harm the image of the Union as a whole by raising standards of transparency and ethics across the board.

Officials cite as examples the current furore over the Parliament being overcharged by Strasbourg for its buildings as well as accusations of conflict of interest against President Jos�anuel Barroso for accepting a cruise from a Greek friend, shipping magnate Spiros Latsis.

A group of MEPs led by the UK Independence Party's Nigel Farage tabled a motion of no confidence in Barroso last June, accusing him of being influenced over state aid decisions benefiting Latsis. The motion was supported by 35 of the Parliament's 732 members.

A Commission official said that at the time of the affair Barroso had said that the issue could have been referred to an independent advisory body to judge whether there had been a conflict of interest. Depending on the advice of the committee, Barroso might have changed his holiday plans, he said. "This would have stopped Mr Farage playing his games," said the official.

The Commission first called for an advisory ethics committee in 2000 but the bid was rejected by MEPs who did not accept being treated the same as officials and un-elected representatives.

While commissioners have a strict code of conduct requiring them to declare financial interests and gifts worth more than EUR 150, MEPs do no have similarly binding rules. They are required to file their financial interests in a central register in the Parliament and failure to do so means they do not receive their salaries. But it is optional whether they publish their interests on the Parliament's website.

Monica Frassoni, co-president of the Greens/EFA group, said that Kallas's plan could be a "good initiative" but questioned whether it was the priority for bringing greater transparency to EU decision-making. She cited other issues, such as working groups, committees and the new high-level group on competitiveness, energy and the environment, as priorities. She questioned whether much more could be done to raise transparency about MEPs' financial interests, saying that they could not avoid making them public.

Article reports on plans by the European Commissioner responsible for Administrative Affairs, Siim Kallas, to pressure MEPs to be more transparent about their financial interests by calling for minimum ethical standards for all officials working in EU institutions as well as setting up an independent advisory committee to judge cases of potential conflicts of interest.

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