Qatargate has rocked the credibility of EU institutions and exposed how lawmakers are vulnerable to corruption. To avoid a complete loss of public faith, the European Parliament (EP) urgently needs to reform ahead of the 2024 elections, Raphaël Kergueno, Policy Officer at Transparency International, told The Brussels Times.
Brussels is the second biggest city for lobbying after Washington DC, with at least 48,000 individuals working in the Belgian capital to influence EU decision-making. Almost 12,000 organisations on the voluntary EU lobby register have declared a combined lobby budget of €1.8 billion, according to Transparency International.
Yet how MEPs liaise with lobbyists is often kept from scrutiny, raising questions on the influence of lobbyists and other actors on European policy.
While MEPs must register meetings with lobbyists, they must only do so if they are in charge of files or are chairs in committees. This process makes it "extremely hard to verify who complies and who doesn't" as they could cite meetings in other policy areas where it isn't mandatory for them to publish, Kergueno argues.
📢Over many decades, the @Europarl_EN has allowed a culture of impunity to develop. It is time for root and branch reform.
Our reaction to the unfolding #Qatar scandal.https://t.co/SmceOQ7W5A — Transparency Int. EU (@TI_EU) December 10, 2022
Just over half of MEPs used the Parliament's publication system between June 2019 and July 2022. But crucially, "there is no oversight or enforcement of the rules," said Vitor Teixeira, a Senior Policy Officer at Transparency International EU.
In addition, Teixeira believes there are several people working in the European Parliament who could be involved in lobbying such as Accredited Parliamentary Assistants and Political Group Advisors – but who are not covered by any rules.
Undue influence on EU policy
While lobbying is part of the democratic process, Kerguano believes that it must be professionalised, the same way it is for lawyers and doctors.
"MEPs can meet anyone they want" but whether "an MEP takes a lobby group's position or not", they should be held accountable to voters at elections. Without transparency, it is difficult for voters to determine if there has been a conflict of interests and there are no checks and balances, Kerguano points out.
In addition, the access that corporate actors have to lawmakers compared to citizens is disproportionate. Big tech increased its lobbying budget which gave it levels of access that regular citizens can only dream of.
"Every week Google had a high-level meeting with either a commissioner, director general or cabinet member, which usually takes months to prepare. These meetings show that money can give you access to the European Commission, which is imbalanced compared to NGOs with less access."
Culture of impunity
The crux of the matter is the "culture of impunity" which today exists at the EP. If lawmakers "breach a code there should be consequences," Kerguano said, calling for an independent ethics authority which can proactively sanction as well as act as a deterrent.
He welcomed a series of reforms that European Parliament President Roberta Metsola recently proposed, particularly the "cooling off period" which means that MEPs who leave Parliament cannot immediately become lobbyists. He also praised "banning informal friendship groups" in which parliament bodies can discuss policy with non-EU Member States.
But despite a resolution in December to create a special committee to tackle the issue and boost transparency, little progress has been made. Moreover, reforming the ethics of the institutions will be a protracted battle. Although MEPs in theory would say they are for reform "in practice they will say it was a collective decision when reform appears in watered down versions."
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According to Transparency International, MEPs from the EPP are the group who have the highest total income per year through "side jobs" while the ID group has the most MEPs who earn an outside income, which could bring resistance from these groups.
Despite internal division, the European Parliament needs to act quickly due to the upcoming European Parliament elections in 2024. "The distinction between the different EU institutions isn't broadly understood so all of the EU is affected and trust in the EU is undermined," said Kerguano.
"We need an integrity system to get to a culture of integrity. Without a strong response, it will be a catastrophic election."
