A majority of the The EU’s directly elected legislative body comprised of 705 members. It is involved in policymaking but it does not have the power to propose new legislation.
European Parliament supports the report led by the A Member of the
To set up the Ethics Body, the report proposed the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement which is to be adopted by the mutual consent of the An institution representing the
Even if this idea of the Independent Ethics Body has long been on the table of the The EU’s directly elected legislative body comprised of 705 members. It is involved in policymaking but it does not have the power to propose new legislation. European Parliament, there have been great discrepancies between the different political groups as for its support. Already in July, when the report on the setting up of the Ethics Body was brought into the Parliament, the European People’s Party Group (EPP) postponed the voting process because they considered that its creation would risk the balance of powers between EU institutions and consequently, on the rule of law within the Union. Later on, even if the EPP Group recognised that improvements had been made in the parliamentary negotiations, they abstained from voting in favour of it by firmly declaring that the Ethics Body will directly breach the rule of law by taking away from the The EU’s directly elected legislative body comprised of 705 members. It is involved in policymaking but it does not have the power to propose new legislation. European Parliament the right to scrutinise and approve the government. In addition to this abstention, the majority of the members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and almost half of the Non-Inscrits Group (NI), composed by Members of the Parliament which do not form part of any of the recognised political groups voted against the adoption of this Ethics Body, clearly showing that its creation is not an easy-to-digest issue.
But where does this idea of an Ethics Body come from? Already during the 2019 European elections, the political groups in the Parliament, but particularly the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D), called for the creation of a single and independent ethics body. They considered it necessary to ensure a consistent and full implementation of ethics standards across the EU institutions. In fact, in the Union framework, the enforcement of ethical rules is not separated from political processes since each European institution designs its own ethical rules and organises its enforcement internally, without having a single and common ethics body for all of them.
Now that a ‘one for all’ Ethics Body has been supported by a majority vote in the The EU’s directly elected legislative body comprised of 705 members. It is involved in policymaking but it does not have the power to propose new legislation. European Parliament, it remains to be seen how the negotiations and dialogue between the EU institutions will evolve in the upcoming months.