Leading MEPs are expected to publish meetings with lobbyists online in the future. That’s what Parliament decided in Brussels. The regulation had met with criticism, especially among conservatives.
With 380 to 224 votes, the European Parliament has imposed even stricter guidelines in dealing with lobbyists. Leading Members, such as rapporteurs and group leaders, will need to publish planned stakeholder meetings online in the future under the revised rules of procedure.
Especially from the ranks of the conservatives there had been criticism of the regulation before the vote in Brussels. „It is alien to life,“ said Daniel Caspary, chairman of the CDU / CSU group in the European Parliament to SPIEGEL. At the request of the Conservative EPP Group, the vote was secret.
In addition, Parliament’s assembly on Thursday voted in favor of new rules of conduct. The deputies should commit themselves to renounce offensive language, sexual harassment and other „inappropriate behavior“. Members who refuse to sign up to the Code of Conduct may in future be denied high-ranking positions in negotiating groups and bodies.
