A group of NGOs working for transparency in EU institutions is insisting the European Commission should tighten its rules on lobbying, conflict of interest and code of conduct after health commissioner John Dalli’s forced resignation.
The Commission has released so little information, that it has in effect raised more questions than it has provided answers
Alter-EU – Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation – also called on Commission president José Manuel Barroso to “disclose the full facts about this scandal”, including the report by the EU anti-fraud agency, OLAF.
In a letter sent to Mr Barroso yesterday, Alter-EU said: “The Commission urgently needs to use more rigorous measures to avoid undue influence, introduce far stricter transparency and ethics rules around its contacts with lobbyists and ensure there rules are stringently involves.”
According to the alliance, Mr Dalli’s case clearly showed the present vaguely worded ethics rules were inadequate and the Commission should develop a consistent approach to preventing undue influence.
“This requires an overhaul of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, for instance spelling out clearly that commissioners should not agree to meetings set up by acquaintances acting as lobby consultants or middlemen.”
The alliance said the current voluntary transparency register adopted by the European Parliament and the Commission had to be replaced by a mandatory lobby transparency system that enabled EU citizens to see who was influencing EU decision-making, on which issues, on whose behalf and with what budgets.
The alliance also insisted on the need to shed more light on the resignation of Mr Dalli and accused Brussels of secrecy.
“The Commission has released so little information in the two weeks since the scandal broke, that it has in effect raised more questions than it has provided answers,” Erik Wedsselius from the alliance told Mr Barroso.
“The fact is it remains unclear exactly why Mr Dalli had to leave. We call on the Commission to end the secrecy around the case and release the full facts about this scandal, including the European anti-fraud office’s report.” So far, both the Commission and Maltese authorities have refused to publish the contents of the OLAF report.
According to OLAF’s director general Giovanni Kessler, investigations showed Mr Dalli was aware that his former canvasser was asking for €60 million in return for influencing the Commissioner to change the tobacco directive. Mr Dalli has vehemently denied these allegations.
Just a few days after receiving the report, Malta’s Attorney General’s office passed it to the police for further investigation.
However, both the AG’s office and the police have so far refused to give any further details.
In the meantime, the European Parliament has sent a request to the Commission to acquire more details of what led to Mr Dalli’s resignation and to get to see the contents of the OLAF investigation. The EP is still awaiting for an official response from the Commission.