Activities of Ana GOMES related to 2015/2041(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Transparency, accountability and integrity in the EU institutions (short presentation) PT
Amendments (50)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for an overall improvement in the prevention of, and the fight against, corruption in the public sector through a holistic approach, commencing with better public access to documents and more stringent rules on conflicts of interest and transparency registers, with a view to developing a coherent global approach to these issu, support for investigative journalism and for anti-corruption watchdogs, the introduction or strengthening of transparency registers, the provision of sufficient resources for law enforcement measures and through improved co- operation among Member States as well as with relevant third countries;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission's announcement of its intention to present, in 2016, a proposal for an inter-institutional agreement revising the Transparency Register for representatives of interest groups; insists that the consultations preceding the proposal take account, in a balanced way, of the different points of view expressed; believes that the level of transparency must be raised through the creation of a legislative footprint for EU lobbying, and by establishing a mandatory EU register for all lobbying activities for all of the EU institutions; points in this regard to the need for introducing annexes to Commission proposals and reports of the EP, clearly indicating which lobbyists had a substantial effect on the text of these proposals and reports, and for creating the possibility for Members of Parliament, who wish to do so, of publishing on their official webpage of the Parliament, which lobbyists they have met;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls upon those European institutions who have introduced codes of conduct, including the Parliament, to step up their monitoring and implementation measures, such as the checks of declarations of financial interests; notes, in this regard, that monitoring and sanctioning bodies must be politically independent;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas EU institutions are in mostsome respects already ahead of certain national and regional political institutions in terms of their transparency, accountability and integrity;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls upon those European institutions who have introduced codes of conduct, including the Parliament, to step up their implementation measures, such as the checks of declarations of financial interests;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, in view of the greaterowing distance between the EU and its citizens, EU institutions must strive for the highest possible standards of transparency, accountability and integrity;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Requests that all EU institutions implement article 16 of the EU Staff Regulations by annually publishing information about senior officials who left the EU administration, as well as a list of conflicts of interests; requests that the aforementioned structure assess the compatibility of post- EU employment or the situation whereby civil servants move from the public to the private sector (the ‘revolving door’ issue) and the possibility of a conflict of interest, and define clear cooling-off periods during which officials are required to behave with integrity and discretion or to comply with certain conditions when taking up new duties, which will cover at least the time of transitional allowances;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas non-transparent, one-sided lobbying poses a significant threat to policy-making and to the public interest and to the trust of civilians in EU institutions;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the dissemination of the conflict-of-interest policy among officials alongside ongoing awareness-raising activities; and the inclusion of integrity and transparency as an obligatory item to be discussed during recruitment procedures and performance chats;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Considers the Commission's first biennial anti-corruption report was a promising attempt to oversee corruption in Member States; calls on the Commission to include an analysis of corruption risks in the EU institutions in the forthcoming 2016 report, along with an overview of the greatest corruption problems in Member States, policy recommendations to tackle them and follow up measures to be taken by the Commission, taking specifically into account the detrimental impact of corrupt activities in the functioning of the Internal Market;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’s agreement to incNotes with concern the findings of the rease transparency by improving its system of expert groups, particularly as regards the procedure for selecting experts, through the development of a new conflict-of-intearchers in the study ‘Composition of the Commission’s expert groups and the status of the register of expert groups’1 a; urges the Commission to take the recommendations of this study into account, when drafting amendments to the curresnt policy for experts appointed in a personal capacity; takes note of the requirement for experts to be registered in the transparency register where relevant;horizontal rules governing expert groups; requests the Commission to engage in a dialogue with the Parliament, before these rules are being formally adopted, especially in relation to the up-coming CONT/JURI report on this matter; __________________ 1aDirectorate General for Internal Policies, 10/09/2015. PE 552.301
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Believes that the level of transparency couldmust be raised through the creation of a legislative footprint for EU lobbying, with the objective of switching from a voluntary toand by establishing a mandatory EU register for all lobbying activities for any of the EU institutions; points in this regard to the need for introducing annexes to Commission proposals and reports of the EP, clearly indicating which lobbyists had a substantial effect on the text of these proposals and reports, and for creating the possibility for Members of Parliament, who wish to do so, of publishing on their official webpage of the Parliament, which lobbyists they have met;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that the Commission, Parliament and the Council should be obliged to record and disclose all input received from lobbyists/interest representatives on draft policies, laws and amendments as a ‘legislative footprint’; suggests that this legislative footprint should consist of a form annexed to reports, detailing all the lobbyists with whom those in charge of a particular file have met in the process of drawing up each report, clearly indicating which lobbyists had a substantial effect on that file and a second document listing all written input received;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers, in this context, that a mandatory EU register should include clear provisions on the type of information to be recorded, i.e. accurate and regularly updated information on the nature of lobbying/legal activities, together with detailed records of contacts and input into EU law and policymaking; believes that a system of sanctions in the event of abuse should be envisaged under the supervision of Parliament; calls upon the Commission to submit its proposals for a mandatory register without further delay;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recognises the best practise of a significant number of legislative footprints already published by rapporteurs in this and former legislatures in the European Parliament;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Demands that all those EU institutions that have not yet done so adopt internal rules on whistleblowing and assess the possibility of agreeing on a common approach to their obligations, focusing on the protection of whistleblowers; asks special attention for the protection of whistleblowers in the context of the Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. States that the annual reports of the European institutions could play an important role in the compliance regarding transparency, accountability and integrity; calls upon the European institutions to have a standard chapter in the annual reports on these components;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers the Commission’s first biennial anti-corruption report to be a promising attempt to better understand corruption in all its dimensions, to develop effective responses with a view to tackling it, and to pave the way for enhanced accountability of the public sphere to EU citizens; reaffirms, in this context, the importance of the EU’ zero-tolerance policy on fraud, corruption and collusion; regrets, however, that this report did not include anti-corruption policies of the EU institutions themselves;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Demands that at the latest in its second anti- corruption report the Commission carry out further analysis at the level of both the EU institutions and the Member States of the environment in which policies are implemented, in order to identify inherent critical factors, vulnerable areas and risk factors conducive to corruption;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Requests the Commission in this regard to pay particular attention to the prevention of conflicts of interest, as well as corruptive practises in the case of decentralised agencies who are particularly vulnerable, considering the fact that they are relatively unknown to the public and are also located throughout the EU;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls upon the Commission to fulfil without delay its reporting obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that the first evaluations of data published about lobby meetings of Commissioners and Commission staff lobby meetings reveal a significant imbalance between business and non- business representatives; calls on the Commission to report annually on this balance; encourages the Commission to develop measures to achieve a better balance; calls on the Commission to empower less well weakly represented interests, rather than limiting meetings with those currently overrepresented;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Suggests that the Code of Conduct should be amended so as to make it mandatory for rapporteurs and committee chairs to adopt the same practice of exclusively meeting registered lobbyists and publish information on such meetings online on their official webpage of the Parliament, directly linked to the Transparency Register, and for rapporteurs to publish a legislative footprint;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls upon the European Parliament’s Bureau for creating the possibility for Members of Parliament, who wish to do so, of publishing on their official webpage of the Parliament, which lobbyists they have met;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that an amendment should introduce mandatory monthly updates on and control of lobby expenditures;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Emphasises the principle that European Commission, Council and Parliament should end contacts with unregistered lobbyists;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that, when interpreting ‘inappropriate behaviour’ within the meaning of point (b) of the Code of Conduct, this expression should be taken to include turning down formal invitations to hearings or committees without sufficient reason for registered entities in the Transparency Register, this expression should be taken to include: (a) performance, or any active promotion, of activities in the field of communication with the EU institutions and their Members or staff which are liable to impair the functionality of the EU institutions’ communication systems, particularly in cases where such activities are performed anonymously; (b) failing to declare the interests or clients being represented when contacting a Member of the European Parliament or officials or other staff of the European Parliament with regard to the legislative process; (c) employing ‘front groups’, i.e. organisations which hide the interests and parties they serve, the latter not being registered in the Transparency Register; and (d) employing the official representatives of third countries when engaged in direct and indirect lobbying activities, (e) offer or grant support, whether financial or in terms of staff or material to Members of the European Parliament or their assistants, staff of Commission or the Council; calls on Commission to add all those instances of inappropriate behaviour to point (b) in the Code of Conduct for registered entities in the Transparency Register when revising the interinstitutional agreement;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Insists that registered law firms and consultancies should declare in the lobby register all clients on whose behalf they perform coveredlobbying activities;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Asks the Bureau to restrict access to Parliament’s premises for non-registered organisations or individuals by making all visitors to its premises sign a declaration that they are not lobbyists falling within the scope of the register or otherwise declare their registration; considers that visitors’ groups should be excepted from this;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls for control and sanctions in case the information of registrants is incorrect;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Believes that at least 25 % of declarations should be checked each year;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that representations of national, regional and local governments of Member States as well as third country representations should not fall under the EU lobby register if they have their own mandatory lobby register and do not offer workspace for private or corporate actors within their representations;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Believes that the members of the Advisory Committee chosen from among Members of the European Parliament should be complemented by a majority of externally chosen members who must be qualified independent experts in the field of ethics regulation and should be drawn from an open call and include members of civil society;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Believes that the Advisory Committee should check the compliance of MEPs with the Code of Conduct, including all the declarations of financial interests and assessing the post term-of office activities of MEPs;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Believes that not only the President should be able to report possible breaches of the Code of Conduct, including the declaration of financial interests and an assessment of the post term-of-office activities, to the Advisory Committee, but also Members of the Parliament, as well as members of civil society;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Believes that the mandate of the Advisory Committee should be extended by including in the annual report recommendations for improving the compliance of Members of Parliament with the Code of Conduct, inter alia, by clarifying its contents, whenever necessary;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that the Rules of Procedure should be amended with regard to Members’ declarations of financial interests to task the Advisory Committee and the supportive administration with factual checks in sampleof all declarations and to empower them to ask for proof where necessary;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that Article 3 of the Code of Conduct for Members should be rephrased to include a clear ban on Members holding side jobs or other paid work that could lead to a conflict of interest;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Believes Members should be obliged to report in their declaration of financial interests their complete property and debt or liabilities at the beginning of each mandate and to update the declaration annually;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Believes that the Commission should pro-actively disclose documents regarding the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee on post-term-of-office jobs of former Commissioners, redacting the commercial or personal information in accordance with Regulation 1049/2001;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Estimates that the Code of Conduct for Commissioners should include a clearer task description of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee, and include the requirement that the members of the Committee are independent experts;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Considers that Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 should be updated as a matter of urgency, as required by the Treaty of Lisbon, by (a) widening its scope to encompass all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies currently not covered, such as the European Council, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Court of Justice, Europol and Eurojust; (b) updating, on the basis of recent ECJ case- law, the rules which deal in particular with the treatment of internal documents, information and data, to ensure wider access to Legal Service opinions drafted within the framework of the decision- making process, documents and information relating to the work of Member State representatives when acting as members of the Council - including the acts, proposals and amendments tabled, transcripts of meetings, their positions and votes cast in the Council, including in its working groups and expert groups - documents relating to international agreements, the protection of personal data and commercial interests, the content of the institutions’ registers, etc.; (c) granting access to the information available in the EU institutions which makes it possible to evaluate objectively the implementation of EU rules, acts, measures and programmes in the Member States; ensuring greater financial transparency by providing detailed information concerning the EU budget, its implementation and the beneficiaries of EU funds and grants; (d) establishing, by means of a transparent procedure and in full compliance with democratic principles and the rule of law, the general principles and restrictions on grounds of public or private interest limiting access to documents which are exceptionally to be classified as ‘Très secret/Top Secret’, ‘Secret’ or ‘Confidentiel’ in order to protect the EU’s essential interests (Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001); (e) defining the principles which could be developed by means of interinstitutional agreements under Article 295 TFEU with a view to implementing in a coordinated way the new regulation on better law-making; (f) giving everybody requesting information the right to receive it in the most machine- readable open digital format available to the institution asked for it; while recognising reasons such as public security, defence and military matters, international relations, the financial, and the monetary or economic policy of the Community or a Member State and protection of personal data and privacy as possible legitimate exceptions for the basic principle of openness of government and administration also recognises that commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property, court proceedings and legal advice, and the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits, and internal deliberations should also be taken into account when exercising the right to access to documents; considers the protection of human rights, protection against corruption and protection against crimes against humanity as representing stronger public interests than other priorities that could hinder the publication of information (such as public security, defence and military matters, international relations, the financial, and the monetary or economic policy of the Community or a Member State and protection of personal data and privacy); the named public interests should also be subject to public interest tests such as commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property, court proceedings and legal advice, and the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits, and internal deliberations;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Recalls in this regard, the position adopted by the Parliament on 12 June 2013 concerning the revision of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Believes those who wilfully act to undermine the right to information, including through the unauthorised destruction of information, should be sanctioned; encourages the Council to agree with an amendment to EU Regulation 1049/2001 to foresee such sanctions;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35a. Rejects the position taken by the Council in its letter to the Ombudsman in regard to the own-initiative inquiry that the organisation of trialogues is a political responsibility and falls outside the Ombudsman’s mandate;
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Transparency and accountability in the domain of public spending Believes that the data on budget and spending within the EU should be transparent and accountable through publication, including at the level of Member States in regard to shared management;
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 a (new)
Paragraph 46 a (new)
46 a. Calls upon the Commission to examine in detail why cases of suspected fraud which OLAF brought to the attention of Member States, did not lead to convictions by national authorities and how the quality of OLAF can be strengthened in order to effectively combat offences against the Union's financial interests;