Activities of Ramona STRUGARIU related to 2020/2133(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on strengthening transparency and integrity in the EU institutions by setting up an independent EU ethics body
Amendments (21)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that transparency, accountability and integrity are key components in promoting ethics principles within the EU, and are essential to protect the EU budget from fraud and corruption and to maintain democratic legitimacy as well as public trust in the EU; recalls that corruption has serious financial consequences and constitutes a serious threat to democracy, the rule of law and public investment; recalls that conflicts of interest can significantly damage the EU’s financial interests and decision-making processes, and should therefore be prevented and condemned;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) identified serious weaknesses in this regard in its 2019 audit on the ethical frameworks of the EU institutions, which concludes that improvements need to be made through harmonisation, awareness raising and strengthening of EU ethics rules; shares the ECA’s concerns about the absence of a common EU ethical framework governing the work of Member States’ representatives in the Council, the lack of overall strategies on ethics in the Parliament and the Council, the unreliable procedures for verifying declarations of interest, the limited scrutiny of these declarations and the incomplete policies in other areas concerning the existing ethical frameworks;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that high standards of transparency and integrity in theall EU institutions are essential to enabling citizens to exercise their democratic right to participate in the EU’s decision-making process and thus to enhancing the democratic legitimacy and credibility of the Union while restoring confidence in the European integration process; ; highlights that all EU institutions should abide by high standards of ethics and transparency and calls on all EU institutions to conclude an agreement on establishing a common ethical framework, to reflect these standards; recalls that, in her Political Guidelines for the 2019- 2024 Commission, the President of the Commission stressed that if citizens were to have faith in the EU, its institutions should be open and beyond reproach on ethics, transparency and integrity; recalls that the right to petition provides citizens with the most accessible way to enter into and maintain a direct dialogue with representatives from the EU institutions and thus contributes to improving openness, responsiveness and accountability while bridging the gap between citizens and EU institutions;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that the high level of fragmentation in the ethics legal framework and the lack of oversight have prevented the proper implementation of codes of conduct in EU institutions; believes that the current self-regulatory approach is not fit for purpose and cannot guarantee integrity; highlights that public officials are not in a position to self-assess ethical situations or conflicts of interest, and that this assessment should fall under the remit of an independent specialised third party; underlines the need to enhance the integrity of the EU institutions and restore public trust;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Encourages the creation of an Independent Ethics Body (IEB) common to all EU institutions; welcomes the fact that the Commission has made it a priority, and is committed to supporting the IEB’s effort to establish a common ethical framework at EU level; calls on all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to support and contribute to the establishment of the future common ethical framework of the EU; encourages the extension of the competences of the IEB as to cover all EU agencies, offices, bodies and other EU structures;
Amendment 17 #
5. Sees high potential for the EU institutions to transfer administrative decision-making competences to the IEB based on a new harmonised ethics framework that it will establish, which should include common rules on the content and publication of declarations of interests, avoidance of conflicts of interest and revolving doors, acceptance of gifts and entertainment, protection of whistle- blowers and victims of harassment, transparency of lobby meetings, public procurement and meeting calendars of senior staff, and use of transparent bank accounts for public funds;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the IEB should be in charge of prevention, monitoring, investigation and enforcement of the common ethical framework for the protection of the EU’s financial interests; highlights that the IEB should be able to take disciplinary measures and impose financial sanctions, and not only issue recommendations, in order to avoid abuse of the EU budget linked to unethical behaviour;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that a high level of transparency of the legislative process is essential to enabling citizens to hold their elected representatives and governments accountable; reiterates, therefore, its call on the Council to improve its rules and practices on transparency of its legislative process in line with the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors and the European Ombudsman, which have been overwhelmingly supported by Parliament in its resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU4 , which was based on the joint report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Petitions; _________________ 4 Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0045. 4
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses that the current self- regulatory ethical framework has proven insufficient, has led to a fragmented approach and to different ethical standards within the different EU institutions; highlights that in order to restore and maintain high levels of confidence in the EU institutions, all EU institutions must abide by the highest ethical standards; recalls in this respect the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors concerning the establishment and implementation of a common ethical framework for all EU institutions;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas the European Court of Auditors recommended, in its Special Report 13/2019, the use of a harmonised approach to handling ethical issues within the EU institutions;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Underlines that public officials are not in a position to self-declare themselves out of conflict of interest or to provide self-assessment with regards to respecting ethical standards; highlights that this task should fall under the competence of an independent specialised third party, in the form of an Independent Ethics Body (IEB) for all the EU institutions, agencies, bodies and offices;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that the EU institutions should apply the highest ethical standards to prevent any episodes of revolving doors and any conflicts of interests, also with regard to the appointments to senior positions in the EU institutions and agencies; expresses its concern that any such episodes, even if legally admissible, are undermining the overall credibility of the EU institutions and often used by anti- European propaganda as a means of introducing euro-scepticism to the public; calls for the establishment of an Independent Ethics Body for all EU institutions that would overlook the implementation of a future common ethical framework, and have competence over the common rules on the content and publication of declarations of interests, avoidance of conflicts of interest and revolving doors, acceptance of gifts and entertainment, protection of whistle- blowers and victims of harassment, transparency of lobby meetings, public procurement and meeting calendars of senior staff, and use of transparent bank accounts for public funds;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the important role that the European Ombudsman plays in ensuring high standards of transparency and integrity in the EU institutions; calls on its Committee on Constitutional Affairs committee to consider and to take into account the experience provided by the European Ombudsman when reflecting on the possible establishment ofing an independent ethics body; suggests the setting up of an EU interinstitutional working group that is tasked with discussing and formulating recommendations on all aspects related to the subject matter;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers, as the committee most directly engaged with the public opinion and public response to the institutions’ transparency and integrity, that the democratic approach and political responsibility remains the strongest control mechanism in any constitutional democracy, as well as in the EU; stresses the need for further strengthening of the democratic accountability mechanisms at EU level and in this regard encourages the establishment of a common ethical framework for all EU institutions and of an Independent Ethics Body in charge of its implementation.
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Insists that the IIA should be open to the participation of all EU institutions and bodies; believes that the IIA should allow the Ethics Body to conclude agreements with national authorities with a view to ensuring the exchange of information and best practices necessary for the performance of its tasks;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Highlights that public officials are not in a position to conduct self- assessments concerning matters of conflict of interest or the respect of ethical standards; underlines that this task should fall under the competence of the EU Ethics body, as an independent specialised third party;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Believes that the EU ethics body should conduct studies, compile annual statistics on financial interest declarations, revolving door cases and other relevant information;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Considers that the new EU Ethics Body should have competence to contribute by way of proposals to the development and periodic update of a common ethical framework for the EU institutions, including common rules and a common model for declarations of financial interests in a machine-readable format;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Considers that the EU Ethics Body should be given the task to develop an EU public portal with relevant information on ethics rules, reports on best practices, studies, statistics, as well as a database containing the declarations of financial interests of all the participating institutions;