Parliament’s register of shame

Date: 02/04/1998

By By Mark Turner

MORE than one in ten MEPs are behind in signing - or have never signed - the European Parliament's register of interests.

Furthermore, many of the Euro MPs who are up to date in completing their entries have simply declared they have no outside interests at all.

This has prompted the institution's rules committee to consider setting out clearer guidelines on what should be included in the register, which is meant to reveal where parliamentarians face possible conflicts of interest with their duties. The register has been fully up and running for almost two years and, by now, MEPs should have completed entries for 1996 and 1997.

The Parliament itself refuses to provide lists of members who have not done so, but an investigation by European Voice has revealed that some 60 members have only filled in forms for one of the two years and another 13 have made no entry at all. A large majority of those who have yet to complete the register for both years are Italian, French, Spanish or German.

In addition, many of the completed forms have been filled in with slashes throughout, indicating that the MEP concerned either has no outside interests or has chosen not to declare them.

Even where declarations are made, they are often very vague. One French MEP, for example, simply indicates that he is the director of a company, without giving any details of what it is or how much he is paid.

At the other end of the scale, some Euro MPs go into enormous detail, declaring air ticket upgrades, free hotel stays, lunches, television appearances or small gifts.

UK Socialist MEP Glyn Ford, who has championed the cause of greater transparency in the Parliament, acknowledges that there is a problem in knowing what to declare. "I think one or two people go far too far in terms of what they declare. But equally there are others who receive substantial benefits who are not declaring them," he said.

But Ford insists that the fact the register exists at all is a great improvement. "This is a new thing and it has been a major step forward. There is a little bit of tightening up to do."

Dutch Socialist MEP Alman Metten, who helped draft the disclosure rules, also acknowledges that "people do not declare everything", and says the register needs to "create a consciousness that MEPs are being watched".

Parliament President José María Gil-Robles told European Voice this week that he was "happy to learn" from the Parliament services that the majority of deputies (about 91%) had already filled in their declarations for 1997.

The president sent a general communication to all MEPs last year encouraging them to complete the register, and a second letter this year to all those who had not done so.

Gil-Robles said he was convinced that the few who had not yet responded would do so "in the coming months". He warned that if they did not, he would appeal to the rules committee.

The MEPs who have made no entry in the register at all are: Ombretta Colli (UPE, Italy), Daniel Féret (NI, Belgium), Antoinette Fouque (PSE, France), Bruno Gollnisch (NI, France), Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf (Green, Germany), Jean-Marie le Chevallier (NI, France), Sebastiano Musumeci (NI, Italy), Guido Podestà (UPE, Italy, vice-president), Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (PPE, Germany), Carlo Ripa di Meana (Green, Italy), Umberto Scapagnini (UPE, Italy), Elisabeth Schroedter (Green, Germany), and Wolfgang Ullman (Green, Germany).

Feature on the EP's register of MEPs' interests.