Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1490058
One should have nothing to hide as a representative of citizens. Any work done in Parliament is on behalf of the citizens we represent. We get paid by each and everyone of our tax money and must be accountable to all of the Union's citizens THE European Parliament's past month was undoubtedly the most difficult one in its history. Not because there weren't any challenges in the past – especial- ly ones that looked at the infe- rior treatment the only directly elected institution received in the European Union's legal or- der, especially prior to the Lisbon Treaty. However, this time it was different. The topmost echelons of a stronger Parliament ended up being embroiled in a corrup- tion scandal involving a rich and powerful third country. A few of us in Parliament have been warning that a case like this could surface at any time for a long time. We do not possess any future-reading superpower. It was just surprising that with the exist- ing setup and rules on Members of Parliament and lobbyists, sim- ilar cases were not flagged before. European Union laws carry high stakes, as do resolutions on Member States and third coun- tries. The heavy lobbying within and outside Parliament's build- ings is a testament to this. And it is for this reason that a number of us have been campaigning for stronger rules on transparen- cy, revolving-doors and internal whistleblowing rules. It is for these reasons that I com- mend and agree in their entirety, with the proposals made by the team working for President Met- sola this week. Yet, I believe that they should have gone that extra mile further, specifically in ascer- taining full transparency in the conduct of Members during and after our mandate. At the end of September, I in- vited German Green MEP Daniel Freund to my podcast to spe- cifically discuss this. I had first met Daniel during the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Back then, he worked at Transparency Inter- national, while I presided over the General Affairs Group that led the negotiations in Council on the Mandatory Transparency Register proposal of September 2016. Today we both sit in the European Parliament and al- so in the Constitutional Affairs Committee and together with some others we frequently voice our opinion against Parliament's backroom deals and lack of trans- parency in the exercise of Mem- bers' mandates. As a Maltese Presidency we had put the Register as our priority in General Affairs and were com- mitted to achieve the strongest mandate possible for a mandato- ry one that covered all European institutions. The usual suspect Member States and, to my sur- prise, Members of the European Parliament watered down the interinstitutional agreement to a voluntary one. Metsola's proposal asks for a mandatory register, which is com- mendable, however, falls short from stating that all meetings held by members or our staff are listed in the register. It limits listings to meetings that are related to the re- ports or resolutions the Member would be working on as a drafter or negotiator. This notwithstand- ing the fact that all Members would be voting on the actual text. One should have nothing to hide as a representative of citizens. Any work done in Parliament is on behalf of the citizens we rep- resent. We get paid by each and everyone of our tax money and must be accountable to all of the Union's citizens. We are also not infallible and any mistakes done must also be acknowledged and explained before moving on. Our message as a Parliament must be strong. Our European values are not for sale. No gifts, monetary or otherwise, or fu- ture employment prospects from lobbyists, third countries or other organisations can ever buy our silence or our positions. It is for this reason that Metsola's initial proposal should have been the strongest possible since a number of voices in different groups will undoubtedly still push for it to be watered down. It's a sine qua non in game theory to start nego- tiations at the strongest possible position, if you believe in it, when you know that the tendency will be for some to oppose parts of it and try to water it down. On the day of our vote on the Qatar resolution, the shock and sadness of a number of us in Plenary on the way a number of amendments on fundamental human and workers' rights were voted out was palpable. We stood there in disbelief albeit being late for our flights on a Thursday af- ternoon. This must not be repeat- ed and all measures to strengthen the rules must be taken. On my end, as I have done from day one, I will continue publish- ing all my meetings in my trans- parency register in my website – not only detailing when I have met who and a brief summary of the discussion as I do today (which is not required by Parlia- ment) but as for meetings from January 2023, I will also start publishing the full notes taken during meetings. I do this as a firm believer in transparency. I have no problem in meeting everyone, as long as those meeting me or my team, have no problem that we publish the contents of our meetings. My meetings are not done on my be- half but on behalf of those I rep- resent. 12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 JANUARY 2023 OPINION A transparent European Parliament Cyrus Engerer is a Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer