Global Courant
BRUSSELS
The European Commission proposed on Thursday to set common ethical standards for EU institutions after several EU officials were recently involved in corruption scandals.
The EU administrator recommended the creation of an inter-agency ethics body tasked with developing and monitoring common standards for all members of EU institutions.
The European Commission said in a statement that the ethics body will set “common, clear, transparent” ethical requirements for all EU politicians on gifts, meetings, declarations of interests and assets, ancillary activities and business.
The ethics body will only be responsible for promoting ethics and helping EU institutions share good practice, while the EU’s Anti-Corruption Office (OLAF) and the European Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will continue to investigate allegations of corruption.
Last December, the EU was rocked by one of the biggest corruption scandals in its history, when Greek EU lawmaker Eva Kaili was arrested by Belgian police on corruption charges.
Kaili, one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament, was arrested after his home was searched on suspicion that he had paid him to lobby for Qatar’s interests.
In addition, up to 1.5 million euros ($1.62 million) in cash was seized by Belgian police during dozens of home and office searches.
Former Italian EU MP Pier Antonio Panzeri, current members of the EU Parliament Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, and Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi, who works as an assistant in the EU institution, were also detained.
In March, the European Commission also reviewed the internal rulebook for senior officials’ travel, after Politico.eu announced that the European Commission’s top transport official, Henrik Hololei, had accepted free flights from Qatar while working on a key aviation deal. .
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