Transparency commitment

Last Thursday, the Nationalist Party's executive committee unanimously adopted a new set of rules that commit Nationalist MEPs to unparalleled standards of transparency in dealing with public funds placed at their disposal by the European Parliament.

Whereas Nationalist MEPs have consistently respected all established parliamentary rules on allowances made available to them, the rules themselves attracted criticism for not being sufficiently transparent.

This issue has come up in the media from time to time but came to a head late last year when the European Ombudsman delivered an opinion that called on the European Parliament to redress the situation.

In the light of the Ombudsman's decision I took the initiative to propose a set of rules that define the commitment on transparency for Nationalist MEPs. The rules will be attached to the Code of Ethics that binds PN candidates and MEPs.

The main points of the rules are the following:

Firstly, Nationalist MEPs shall not recruit in their office any members of family, notably spouses, parents or children. This practice is widespread in other countries, especially the UK, but is not acceptable for us.

Secondly, Nationalist MEPs shall provide specific information relating to the persons they engage in their office using the budget that Parliament assigns to them for this purpose (secretarial assistance allowance). Details will include the name, position held and whether the position is full-time or part-time.

I myself have already been making public the names of the members of my staff for the past years. But this will now become an obligation for Nationalist MEPs.

Staff salaries will not be made public as this would breach their right to privacy as private individuals and unnecessarily limit the freedom of MEPs to pay different salaries to different people. However, staff salaries will be established in the MEPs' accounts, which must be certified by an auditor. Moreover, any unspent funds from the staff budget must be paid back to the European Parliament and this too will be verified by the auditor.

Thirdly, Nationalist MEPs shall provide full details on how they use the general expenditure allowance granted to them to run their office, their total expenses claimed for the purposes of travelling and the total daily subsistence allowance received from the European Parliament.

Fourthly, Nationalist MEPs shall produce a declaration of financial interest on an annual basis listing any offices, whether public or private, they hold for remuneration other than their post in the European Parliament. The declaration shall also include any office they may hold in a non-governmental organisation even if not against remuneration.

This would ensure that MEPs avoid conflicts of interests in their parliamentary work.

Fifthly, Nationalist MEPs must produce annual accounts and submit them to a certified public auditor who will verify whether the accounts have been produced in an appropriate manner, whether the funds have been used in compliance with the established rules of the European Parliament and the PN transparency commitment rules and whether any funds due back to the European Parliament have been actually repaid.

Finally, Nationalist MEPs shall post on their website, in a manner that is visibly accessible to the public, a copy of the PN transparency commitment rules, a copy of their declaration of financial interest, a completed "Transparency Commitment" form listing a detailed break-down of funds received and a copy of the auditor's statement of compliance.

These rules establish a level of transparency for Nationalist MEPs, which go far beyond the requirements under current rules of the European Parliament and set unprecedented standards of transparency in Malta.

Over the years - indeed long before Malta joined the EU - there has been criticism about a perceived lack of transparency and there have even been reports of a number of cases of abuse. Both the criticism and, more so, the cases of abuse taint the office of MEPs and undermine public trust in the European Parliament.

The criticism is offensive for MEPs who are persons of integrity, who take pride in their work and who have never misused the funds placed at their disposal. But I acknowledge that the lack of transparency undermined public trust and needed to be addressed once and for all.

I hope that the lead taken by the PN will set an example that will be followed by other political parties in Malta and in other EU countries.

Those who pay lip-service to transparency must now stand up to be counted.

For Ask Your MEP go to www.simonbusuttil.eu. Support the Stop the Dust campaign on www.stopthedust.org.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.