The gift case of Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, highlighted the limited transparency rules for the EU institution, Politico points out.
Metsola would save the credibility of the EP
The move of the EP President came at a bad time. Because of the representatives suspected in the Qatari corruption case, the political establishment of the union is struggling to restore its credibility. And the EP president made public an extensive list of which gifts he accepted from international persons as president.
Metsola's apology was based on the fact that the gifts were not intended for him personally, but for the EP as an institution.
From dried sausage to the golden model
Metsola's gift list included items such as a gold model tower that she received from leading Moroccan politician Naam Mayara; a white dress with gold embroidery by Fawzia Zainal, Speaker of the Bahraini Parliament; a scarf from French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne; Sennheiser wireless headphones from the German Bundestag; a vase from the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU; a white blouse from Moldovan President Maia Sandu; A book about Bruges by Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe; and a decorative plate from the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the Benelux countries.
But he also got champagne, chocolate, cake and dried sausage.
According to him, these were "served during parliamentary events".
However, in 125 cases of the gifts, the president's statement arrived after the deadline for the representatives. Gifts to representatives must be made public no later than the end of the month following receipt.
On the other hand, the parliamentary press officer who spoke to Politico claimed that in most cases, the previous presidents informed the parliament with a single declaration at the end of their mandate, thereby avoiding disclosure.
Since 2019, only ten people have spoken
The article recalled that since the beginning of the 2019 European Parliament cycle, only 10 MEPs have made a gift declaration, including the current President of the Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
A German representative of the European People's Party, Daniel Caspary, himself confessed to seven items. On the other hand, as to why EP representatives fail to report, the German politician argued that there have probably been fewer diplomatic events since the coronavirus epidemic.
The full article here .
Source: hirado.hu
Photo: dpa
