Activities of Marian HARKIN related to 2016/2080(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Commissioners' declarations of interests - Guidelines (A8-0315/2016 - Pascal Durand)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Code of Conduct for Commissioners adopted in 2011 fails to sufficiently address several of Parliament’s recommendations for improvements, in particular as regards the declarations of financial interests of Members of the Commission, the post-office employment restrictions and the strengthening of the ad-hoc Ethical Committee responsible for the assessment of conflicts of interests;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. RegretsDenounces the fact that the 2011 code of conduct has failed to address all the recommendations issued by Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on 2 March 20111 and points out, in particular, that Commissioners are notshould be required to declare all their financial interests or assets buand not only those interests or assets ‘which might create a conflict of interest in the performance of their duties’, that there is no requirement to declare debts and liabilities and that dependent children are not required to produce the same information as spouses; __________________ 1 Letter from Mr De Magistris, chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, to Mr Lehne, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. SConsiders that conflict of interests can only be assessed by an independent third party and stresses in particular that the Commissioners are expected tocannot make their own judgement on what might create a conflict of interest in the absence of a clear definition to guide them;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – point c
Paragraph 4 – point c
(c) with regard to the declaration of possession of company shares, stock and other property or rights representing assets and other intangible assets;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Regrets the code of conduct fails to adequately codify the requirement under the Article 245 TFEU that "both during and after their term of office, Commissioners will respect the obligations... in particular their duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits."
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Regrets that the Commission does not report regularly on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, in particular as regards their declarations of interests and that the code of conduct does not provide for complaints or sanctions with regard to infringements with the exception of serious misconduct as referred to in Articles 245 and 247 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Regrets, in particular, the negative response by the President of the Commission to the request of the European Ombudsman to proactively publish its decisions on the authorisation of post term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee; emphasises in this respect that the mere publishing of the minutes of Commission meetings is insufficient to offer the Parliament and civil society an insight in the interpretation in practice of 'potential conflicts of interest' and the integrity policies developed in this respect by the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Regrets that the code of conduct does not require former commissioners to make publicly available information on their meetings and telephone calls with officials of the European Institutions or officials of the governments of the Member States up to 10 years after they have ceased to hold office;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point d
Paragraph 10 – point d
(d) that Commissioners disclosein office suspend and former Commissioners disclose for 10 years their membership of any non-governmental organisations or trade unions, and any donations to NGOs of more than EUR 500;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point d a (new)
Paragraph 10 – point d a (new)
(da) that the Code of Conduct be amended, in line with Article 245 TFEU to extend Commissioners' post-office employment restriction to three years;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point e
Paragraph 10 – point e
(e) that Commissioners designate submit their declarations within a specific time frame before theirso that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee can submit to Parliament its views on potential conflicts of interests well in time for the hearings in Parliament;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 10 – point e a (new)
(ea) that Commissioners designate include in their declarations all professional EU interest representation activities and all their financial interests in such activities in the past three years;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point g
Paragraph 10 – point g
(g) that the Commission guides the Commissioners on how to implementrevises section 1.3 of the code of conduct, which stipulates that the Commissioners must declare any financial interest or asset which might create a conflict of interests in the performance of their duties, and in particular on the definition of conflicts of interests in order to make sure that all financial interests and related rules are clearly defined and guides both Commissioners designate and Commissioners in office how to implement section 1.3 of the code of conduct fully and comprehensively;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 10 – point i a (new)
(ia) that the decisions on the authorisation of post term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee are proactively published;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point i b (new)
Paragraph 10 – point i b (new)
(ib) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee is composed of independent experts who have not themselves fulfilled positions as Commissioner or as Member of the European Parliament;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point i c (new)
Paragraph 10 – point i c (new)
(ic) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee shall draw up and publish an annual report on its activities and may include any recommendations on the improvement of the Code of Conduct or of its implementation, as it may see fit;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 – point i d (new)
Paragraph 10 – point i d (new)
(id) that, as a matter of priority, the duty to behave with integrity and discretion pursuant to Article 245 of the Treaty (TFEU) even beyond a period of 18 months after ceasing to hold office is elaborated and that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee develops a manual providing guidelines on the basis of practical examples indicating which type of positions could be at odds with this duty both during and beyond the period of 18 months after ceasing to hold office; that the 'cooling off' period of 18 months is considerably extended, as long as such a manual has not yet been developed;