When it comes to transparency, the European Parliament’s motto has become: Do as I say, not as I do.
Members of the key European institution are fighting crucial reforms to ensure MEPs act by a shared set of public spending rules.
As a relatively new member of the European Parliament Bureau — where decisions regarding the Parliament’s administration and budget are made — I have experienced first hand how its members are quietly burying essential transparency reforms behind closed doors.
The result is bad for European democracy and puts our future at risk.
Europe’s democracies rely on open and transparent decision-making as much as they rely on the rule of law and the respect of core values.
If we want to maintain our slipping credibility with voters ahead of the parliamentary election in May, we have to reassure them that politicians are being held to account — and that we are respecting our own rules.
With European democratic values already under assault in various parts of the bloc, the Parliament urgently needs to set a better example.
The Parliament Bureau, for example, has blocked reforms that would ensure MEPs must report on how they spend their so-called General Expenditure Allowance of around €4,400 a month — public money that is intended to cover office management costs and other expenses, and which MEPs receive as a lump sum every month, with no obligation to track how it is put to use.
Bureau members justify their position by insisting, again and again, that a member of the European Parliament is entitled to a “free mandate” — meaning he or she is able to act independently from outside pressure. They claim extra checks on their activities and spending would hamper their ability to perform their duties.
But this argument is nothing more than a ploy to stall transparency reforms the institution desperately needs to adopt.
The message Parliament is sending EU citizens is clear: We expect transparency and accountability from everyone else, but refuse to be bound by the same rules.
Under pressure from heightened media scrutiny, Parliament President Antonio Tajani vowed to push for clearer rules. But when it came time to vote on the new measures, the Bureau’s majority, eight vice presidents, acting with Tajani’s blessing, voted them down. Once again, they cited the freedom of MEPs’ mandate.
The Bureau’s reluctance to change the rules goes against the will of most MEPs, a majority of whom have voted on several occasions for greater transparency when it comes to the allowance they receive.
The only real step the Bureau took was to stipulate the allowance be paid into a separate bank account. Other proposed changes — such as requiring MEPs to keep receipts and publishing annual overviews of spending — were voted down. The majority of Bureau members claimed voluntary transparency measures are enough.
Headlines around the EU summed up the disbelief and disappointment over this decision. MEPs refuse transparency, French newspapers wrote. Austrian media described the vote as a gift to EU-haters. Buy yourself a mirror, the Belgians advised.
The Parliament is also failing to make headway on its proposal for a mandatory transparency register for lobbyists.
The proposed lobby register would be a simple way to keep track of MEPs’ meetings with lobbyists. The principle is straightforward, and hard to dispute: No registration, no meeting. And yet here too, the Parliament Bureau resists any meaningful changes and continues to either postpone a decision on the proposal or propose voluntary measures instead.
If MEPs’ free mandate guarantees that they can vote and speak independently from any outside instructions, whether from their voters or their parties, wouldn’t the principle be reinforced, rather than impaired, by a mandatory lobby register? Several legal experts have made a convincing case as to why it would.
Members of European Parliament vote during a plenary session | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images
The Parliament’s resistance to transparency has also affected the #MeToo movement that briefly saw a flurry of claims of sexual harassment in the institution. On paper, the Parliament follows a zero-tolerance approach toward any form of harassment.
But here too, the Bureau has undermined efforts to introduce greater accountability.
A majority of MEPs voted for compulsory training for all staff and for members of Parliament. And yet, the Bureau made training for MEPs voluntary, rather than mandatory. The result? Out of a total of 751 MEPs, only 19 reportedly showed up to the first sessions.
The message Parliament is sending EU citizens is clear: We expect transparency and accountability from everyone else, but refuse to be bound by the same rules.
With European democratic values already under assault in various parts of the bloc, the Parliament urgently needs to set a better example — not least of all to maintain its credibility in the eyes of EU citizens.
This eighth Parliament will not be remembered as the one that improved transparency. Let’s hope the next one does a better job.
Heidi Hautala is a Finnish MEP and a vice president of the European Parliament.