Qatargate: This is bitter-sweet
October 5, 2023
By WeMove Europe
Beginning of October the European Parliament finally agreed on some important changes following the Qatari corruption scandal. [1] These reforms will force lawmakers to be more transparent about their assets and meetings with lobbyists.
And it was’s about time! At the beginning of the year the police found hundreds of thousands of Euros in cash at the homes of top EU politicians – allegedly from the Qatari government in return for political favours. [2]
After the scandal broke, politicians made big promises - but in the end they went rather easy on themselves. The new reforms include some gaping holes: For example, the 6-month cooling off period for former MEPs before they can lobby their former colleagues has been slammed by experts as “amounting to little more than window dressing” — too short to be effective. [3] And frustratingly, MEPs are still allowed to have lucrative side jobs as lobbyists. [4]
Despite these concerns, we must not lose sight of an important fact: without this community making noise and amping up the pressure, the conservative, liberal and socialist parties would never have even agreed to these limited reforms.
Together we sent thousands of emails to the members of the working group in Parliament asking them to pass a strong law. WeMove members in Berlin met with the key decision-maker in charge of the reforms, S&D politician Gaby Bischoff, and drove home the message that we need better rules on transparency. When it came to the all important decision in plenary, we made sure MEPs knew we were watching them by sending thousands of tweets and emails to MEPs.
We expected and deserved so much more. But we can’t lose hope - these fights require great tenacity.
Together we sent thousands of emails to the members of the working group in Parliament asking them to pass a strong law. WeMove members in Berlin met with the key decision-maker in charge of the reforms, S&D politician Gaby Bischoff, and drove home the message that we need better rules on transparency. When it came to the all important decision in plenary, we made sure MEPs knew we were watching them by sending thousands of tweets and emails to MEPs.
We expected and deserved so much more. But we can’t lose hope - these fights require great tenacity.
References [1] https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-institutions/news/new-transparency-rules-serious-first-step-after-qatargate-say-eu-lawmakers/ [2] https://www.politico.eu/article/qatargate-qatar-corruption-scandal-eu-european-parliament-eva-kaili-marc-tarabella-roberta-metsola/ [3] Transparency International EU: “Qatargate reforms: European Parliament fails its first big test”: https://transparency.eu/qatargate-reforms-european-parliament-fails-its-first-big-test/ [4] https://transparency.eu/meps-miss-opportunity-to-improve-ethics-regime-in-parliament/
Together we sent thousands of emails to the members of the working group in Parliament asking them to pass a strong law. WeMove members in Berlin met with the key decision-maker in charge of the reforms, S&D politician Gaby Bischoff, and drove home the message that we need better rules on transparency. When it came to the all important decision in plenary, we made sure MEPs knew we were watching them by sending thousands of tweets and emails to MEPs.
We expected and deserved so much more. But we can’t lose hope - these fights require great tenacity.
References
[1] https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-institutions/news/new-transparency-rules-serious-first-step-after-qatargate-say-eu-lawmakers/
[2] https://www.politico.eu/article/qatargate-qatar-corruption-scandal-eu-european-parliament-eva-kaili-marc-tarabella-roberta-metsola/
[3] Transparency International EU: “Qatargate reforms: European Parliament fails its first big test”: https://transparency.eu/qatargate-reforms-european-parliament-fails-its-first-big-test/
[4] https://transparency.eu/meps-miss-opportunity-to-improve-ethics-regime-in-parliament/
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