Seven EU institutions have reached a consensus on the formation of a new ethics body, a significant advancement in the establishment of this entity, which was initially put forward by the Parliament in 2021 and deemed “unsatisfactory” in 2023. The call for a regulatory ethics body stemmed primarily from the need to safeguard EU financial interests after corruption scandals, notably QatarGate.
The proposal in 2021 was for an EU Independent Ethics Body (IEB) consisting of nine members aimed at ameliorating “transparency and integrity”. The purpose of the IEB, as defined by the Parliament, was to “guarantee that public decisions are taken from a perspective of the common good and citizens’ trust in the EU institutions.” The IEB would have the ability to both investigate and advise on various matters, including potential conflicts of interest and ‘revolving door’ scenarios involving Commissioners, MEPs, and staff of the participating institutions.
The proposal for this entity was altered from the original nine members to five independent experts, a change that left many MEPs unsatisfied. They criticized the absence of an infrastructure to protect whistleblowers and coverage of institutional staff in the draft proposal. However, following negotiations, the Conference of Presidents endorsed the agreement in 2023 allowing five experts to examine individual conflicts of interest.
Lead negotiators for the session were European Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley and Daniel Freund, a representative from the German Green Party. Freund hailed the decision as a “great success for the transparency and the integrity of the EU institutions”, acknowledging that the establishment of this organ was overdue.
Transparency International EU (TI EU), however, expressed scepticism over how effective the IEB could genuinely be as it “fails to address the crux of the integrity problems across the EU institutions.” According to TI EU, the lack of independent oversight, monitoring, and sanctioning may lead to the EC institutions having to police their own behaviour, risking potential conflicts of interest. Despite these concerns, the TI EU agreed that the formation of the body was a step in the right direction.
The Constitutional Committee will now compile a report based on this new development, which will be put to a vote in a plenary session in April 2024. Should this pass, eight EU representatives will have to be appointed, and five independent experts selected to form the IEB.
More information about the formation of this new body is available at JURIST – News.