On 14 May, the AFCO Committee blocked the creation of the Ethics Body, once again led by the well-known coalition of conservative and far-right forces.

The Left in the European Parliament expresses its deep concern and indignation over today’s decision by the conservative and far-right coalition, including the EPP, ECR, PfE, and ESN, to block the establishment of the long-awaited European ethics body. This organism, approved under the previous mandate, was a critical step toward rebuilding citizens’ trust in the European Union following multiple high-profile corruption scandals such as Pfizergate, Qatargate, Moroccogate, and lately Huawei.
But once again, it is clear that these political forces are not acting in the interest of European citizens, but in those of private lobbies and opaque power structures.

Even more symbolic is the timing of this vote: it comes on the very day the European Court of Justice condemned Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen for her failure to justify why text messages related to COVID-19 vaccine negotiations were deleted and kept from public scrutiny.

Left MEP and coordinator of the Constitutional affairs Committee Nikolas Farantouris (Syriza, Greece): “The right and far-right alliance in the European Parliament continues its efforts to kill the Ethics Body – the first common framework for cooperation on ethical standards across the EU institutions. Recent scandals are stark reminders of the urgent need to strengthen transparency and tackle corruption. Conservatives cannot continue to turn a blind eye. Our House must honour its commitment to the interinstitutional agreement on the Ethics Body and proceed with its full implementation without further delay. We will continue fighting for the highest ethical standards in order to safeguard the credibility and legitimacy of our House.”

Left MEP and member of Constitutional affairs Committee Anthony Smith (La France Insoumise, France): “Corruption scandals are pouring down within European institutions — from the European Parliament all the way to the top of the Commission — creating distrust among citizens. The creation of an ethics body was a good opportunity to establish real transparency in the workings of the EU. That is, until the alliance between the right and the far-right voted against its inclusion in the Parliament’s rules of procedure. All this while they demand more transparency regarding funds given to NGOs… But the hypocrisy of the right-wing alliance knows no bounds. They’d rather quietly hide with their friends from industrial and financial lobbies behind the hushed walls of the European Parliament than be accountable to the citizens.”

To fight corruption, we need transparency. Without clear rules, oversight, and the political will to enforce them, corrupt practices will continue to thrive behind closed doors.