MEP code of conduct breach
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
The Advisory Committee's annual report on the code of conduct for 2020 mentioned two possible breaches of the Code of Conduct.
The first referral involved a Member’s omission to comply with the disclosure obligations concerning an unremunerated position held within a Federation. The second deal with a member’s omission to comply with the disclosure obligation concerning the ownership of holdings within a company.
I am seeking documents that reveal the names of these two MEPs and/or nationality and political party affiliation as well as the name of the Federation and company in question.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges the receipt of your
application for public access to documents, which was registered on
28/10/2021.
All requests for public access to documents are treated in compliance with
[1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with [2]Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
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The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
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address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Kind regards
[3]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[4][email address]
[5]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Our Reference: A(2021)9178
Dear Mr Nielsen,
your application for public access to documents, submitted under
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, was registered on 28 October 2021.
As a preliminary remark, Parliament draws your attention to the fact that
the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as defined in its Article 2(3),
extends only to existing documents held by an institution, whereas it does
not cover the broader concept of information. Information may be
distinguished from a document, in particular, as far as it is defined as a
data element that may appear in one or multiple documents.
The Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members gives recommendations to
the President of Parliament. The Code of Conduct for Members of the
European Parliament provides that the President may refer cases to the
Advisory Committee in order for it to advise on whether a Member(s) has
breached this Code.
The Advisory Committee deliberates in camera, and its deliberations are
not public by nature, also in view of giving confidential guidance to
Members. The findings and recommendations are addressed to the President
of Parliament as part of an internal procedure. It is the President who
takes the final decision on follow up and possible sanctions when it has
been established that a Member has indeed breached the Code.
Being an advisory body to the President, the President is not bound by its
recommendations. Its advice does not constitute all the considerations to
be taken into account by the President, when taking a final decision on
possible sanctions. Under these circumstances, any publicity of the
recommendations made by the Advisory Committee, which are to be considered
as opinions for internal use, could therefore unduly interfere with the
deliberation of the President, affect the division of roles and
competences between the President and the Advisory Committee, and thus
seriously undermine Parliament's decision-making process.
The documents requested by you refer to two individual cases:
For the MEP who omitted to comply with the disclosure obligations
concerning an unremunerated position held within a federation, there was a
sanction decision of the President taken in July 2020. This was announced
in plenary. The name/nationality/political affiliation of the MEP in
question are therefore public and can be found in the relevant plenary
minutes.
NAME: Jan ZAHRADIL
NATIONALITY: Czech
POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Občanská demokratická strana / ECR
The link to the minutes of the sanction applied in July 2020:
[1]https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc...
.
For the MEP who failed to comply with the disclosure obligation concerning
the ownership of company holdings, the assessment of this matter by the
Advisory Committee was finalised in the first half of 2021, and the
Advisory Committee recommended no sanction. There is no overriding public
interest to disclose the personal details of the member concerned. The
case will be reported in the annual report for 2021 of the Advisory
Committee. In compliance with the Rules of Procedure of the Advisory
Committee, this will be adopted and published on the website of the
European Parliament by the third meeting of the Advisory Committee
following the end of the year to which the annual report refers.
On this basis Parliament considers your request handled and the file
closed. Please do not hesitate to submit a new request should you identify
specific Parliament documents for which you would like to request public
access.
Kind regards,
[2]cid:image001.png@01D58B31.E2CF1C20 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[3][email address]
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb