Stronger ethics regulation

Review of revolving door rules in the Staff Regulations

Publication date: 
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Author: 
ALTER-EU

The provisions on conflicts of interest, including from post-employment activities (Art. 11, 12 and 16) in the European Commission's Staff Regulations do not go far enough in preventing the risk of actual or apparent conflicts of interest that arise through the revolving door – when public officials leave office and go to work in private sector lobby jobs.

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PDF icon ALTER-EU_Revolving door rules in Staff Regulations.pdf
Document types: 
briefings & info sheets
Campaign: 
Stronger ethics regulation
 

ALTER-EU groups complain about breach of parliamentary Code of Conduct by European Parliament Former Members Association + Reply from President SCHULZ

Publication date: 
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Author: 
Friends of the Earth Europe and Corporate Europe Observatory

ALTER-EU groups have complained to European Parliament (EP) President Schulz about the 'EP Former Members Association (FMA)' openly seeking corporate sponsorship for activities at the premises of the European Parliament, in clear violation of the Code of Conduct for (ex-)MEPs.

Download full document as pdf: 
PDF icon Complaint FMA-FoEE-CEO_26042013.pdf
PDF icon Annexe-FoEE-CEO-Complaint-FMA-26042013.pdf
PDF icon AW Schulz - FMA complaint - 03062013.pdf
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EP

Lessons from a #Lobbycracy: Transformation for Transparency and Rules for Revolving Door

Publication date: 
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Author: 
The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB)

With regulatory review processes underway, both lobbying transparency and the revolving door between public officials and private sector lobbyists in Brussels are hot topics. Come and discuss the lessons from a #lobbycracy with us!

Download full document as pdf: 
PDF icon ALTER-EU_Public debate_Lessons from a Lobbycracy_11April.pdf
Document types: 
correspondence
Campaign: 
Stronger ethics regulation
 

Better avoidance of conflict of interest: EU agencies and other bodies moving forward (+ LIVE webstream address)

Publication date: 
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Better avoidance of conflict of interest
Start date: 
Thu, 2013-02-21 09:00
Location: 
European Parliament, Brussels, Altiero Spinelli Building (ASP) 3G-2

During this workshop, ALTER-EU will challenge the Commission's soft approach when it comes to managing conflicts of interest; we will make the case for clear rules and strong enforcement, including an independent ethics committee.

Workshop organised by the policy department of the Budget Control Committee of the European Parliament, that enables Members to put questions to and exchange views with experts on conflicts of interest management within the EU agencies and other bodies. (Watch the workshop live: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/home.html)

Campaign: 
Stronger ethics regulation
PDF icon Programme workshop on conflicts of interest
PDF icon Briefing paper workshop on conflicts of interest
PDF icon Poster workshop on conflicts of interest
 

Transparency campaigners challenge the decision to renew the mandate of the members of the ad hoc ethical committee

Publication date: 
Monday, January 14, 2013
Author: 
Corporate Accountability International, Corporate Europe Observatory (ALTER-EU) and LobbyControl (ALTER-EU)

The European Commission in mid-December decided to renew the mandate of the three members of the ad hoc ethical committee (Michel Petite, Rafael Garcia-Valdecasas and Terry Wynn) for a second three year period. The signatories of this letter would like to ask you to re-consider Mr. Petites’ re-appointment.

Download full document as pdf: 
PDF icon Letter to Barroso on the decision to renew the mandate of the members of the ad hoc ethical committee.pdf
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EC

Scandal around John Dalli's resignation highlights Commission's urgent need for greater transparency and stronger ethics rules

Publication date: 
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Author: 
ALTER-EU

The ALTER-EU coalition has for several years campaigned to convince the Commission that the current rules are inadequate, but most of our demands have, until now, been ignored. We urge the Commission to use this opportunity to get its house in order.

Document types: 
statements
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EC
 

Financial interests of MEP Jean Luc Dehaene

Publication date: 
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Author: 
Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), SpinWatch, LobbyControl, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)

In a joint letter earlier this year, FoEE together with CEO, LobbyControl, and Spinwatch, raised specific concerns about the lack of transparency over the financial interests of MEP Jean-Luc Dehaene, and the related risk of a potential conflict of interest. On 4 October, 5 months after, Mr Dehaene updated his declaration.

Download full document as pdf: 
PDF icon NGO letter to Martin Schulz on financial interests MEP Dehaene October2012.pdf
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EP

Ethics code has to keep MEPs in check

Publication date: 
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Author: 
Natacha Cingotti
Media title: 
European Voice

On 9 August, the European Voice reported that Austrian authorities had charged a former MEP, Ernst Strasser, with corruption following the 2011 ‘cash-for-influence' scandal. The case of another MEP, Adrian Severin, who was incriminated in the same scandal, is even more worrying.

Link to original article: 
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/ethics-code-has-to-keep-meps-in-check-/75070.aspx
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EP

ALTER-EU group analyses all 754 Declarations of Financial Interest of Members of the European Parliament: more than 10% found empty

Publication date: 
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Author: 
Prepared by Muriel Treibich Contributions from Natacha Cingotti and Paul de Clerck Edited by Francesca Gater, and Rachel Tansey

New ethics rules in the European Parliament are not strict enough to ensure complete transparency on MEPs’ outside interests, and therefore prevent potential conflicts of interest, shows the first analysis of declarations made under the new MEP code of conduct. 

Download full document as pdf: 
PDF icon transparency_in_the_european_parliament_july2012.pdf
Campaign: 
Code of Conduct EP

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