Transparency and Democracy

Challenging Dieselgate Secrecy

Official complaint to EU Ombudsman on lack of transparency

Bas Eickhout has submitted an official complaint to the European Ombudsman to challenge the secrecy of the Commission and Council around the Dieselgate scandal which has been hitting headlines across Europe since 2015. The Dieselgate revelations were a scandal on many different fronts, affecting consumer rights, public health, environmental protection, public confidence in regulators and oversight bodies and also the share price of many car companies.

MEPs' outside activities show it's time to overhaul Parliament's ethics rules

Side jobs

A report by Transparency International EU on the outside activities of MEPs shows that up to 104 MEPs have earned more than €100,000 each over the last four years on top of their salaries as full-time MEPs.

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 2-6 July 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Austrian presidency of the EU, debate on the Future of Europe with the Polish Prime Minister, declaration of Italy's Interior Minister on Sinti and Roma, reform of the electoral law of the European Union, transport workers need dignified work conditions, digital copyright, European Citizens' Initiative

Racism and hatred towards minorities must not become socially acceptable

Italy

The announcement by the new Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to have a register of Sinti and Roma people will be debated today by Members of the European Parliament at the initiative of the Greens/EFA Group.

Electoral thresholds will damage the diversity of our parliament

EU electoral law

The European Parliament has today given consent to the reforms to the electoral law of the European Union. The reforms introduce an obligatory threshold of 2 to 5 % for constituencies with more than 35 seats (impacting only Spain and Germany).

HDP and democracy in Turkey

Statement from EFA MEP Jordi Solé (Catalonia)

EFA MEP Jordi Solé, a member of the European Parliament's Turkey delegation, has praised the performance of the pro-minority HDP party in Turkey's recent presidential and parliamentary elections. The party was able to increase its parliamentary representation, and field a candidate...

Poland: European Commission begins infringement proceedings

Quote from Ska Keller

On the announcement that the European Commission will begin infringement proceedings against Poland, Ska Keller, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, comments.

European Parliament calls on the EU to take a stand against Viktor Orban's assault on democracy

Hungary

The European Parliament has backed a report from Greens/EFA MEP Judith Sargentini for EU Member States to trigger Article 7 sanctions procedures against Hungary. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban's re-election in April the Hungarian government has continued its authoritarian crack down on civil society, academia and freedom of speech. Last week the Hungarian government passed the "Stop Soros" package of laws which aim to single out NGOs working on migration in the country and will make it almost impossible for organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to continue their operations in Hungary.

Quote from Josep Maria Terricabras

European Citizens' Initiative reform

The European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs committee has today voted on the reform of the European Citizens' Initiative, with the majority blocking all meaningful improvements.

The battle for a more democratic Europe heats up as we push for meaningful reform of the European Citizen’s Initiative

Despite the concerns raised by more than 60 NGOs as part of the #EPforgetusnot campaign, tomorrow’s vote on the reform of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) looks like it will fail to address the democratic aspirations of the 9,000,000,000 citizens who already signed an ECI in the hopes of having their voices heard by the European Commission. Read and take action

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 11-14 June 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Multiannual Financial Framework; Brexit; Iran nuclear deal; Netherlands PM Mark Rutte on the Future of Europe; Poland: independence of the judiciary; Renewable Energy Directive; Circular economy at the heart of cohesion policy; Tax justice: transparency of big companies; FIFA: Play Fair – Fight for the forgotten; Climate change photo exhibition.

No double standards on EU's human rights commitment

Press release from EFA MEP Jordi Solé (Catalonia)

Catalan MEP Jordi Solé has called upon the EU to avoid double standards in its commitment to human rights and democracy around the world. The EFA MEP spoke in the European Parliament's debate today about the EU's annual report on human rights and democracy in the world, in the pres...