New Delhi: India was the second most favoured destination for EU legislators or MEPs who accepted paid-for trips since 2019. Israel topped the list, and India was followed by the UAE. Following the first arrest in the Qatargate scandal in December, there was a sudden rush of diligent reporting by EU politicians of trips and events paid for by third countries, according to Transparency International.
Israel (30), India (23) and United Arab Emirates (16) were the favourite paid-for travel destinations for MEPs since 2019. Most of these declarations were made after the “Qatargate” scandal broke out – before that, MEPs often did not declare their travel plans in writing, Transparency International has said. The scandal refers to allegations that Qatar and Morocco handed out cash and gifts to secure favourable treatment in the European Parliament.
In 2013, a rule was introduced in the MEP code of conduct whereby MEPs must declare every event organised by a third party where their travel, accommodation or subsistence expenses were paid for or reimbursed by a third party. Transparency International EU has analysed all third party event (or ‘travel’) declarations submitted by MEPs since the start of the current parliamentary term in 2019.
“We found that out of a total of 321 declarations submitted during the first 3.5 years of the current term, a whopping 103 (or 32%) were submitted during the two-month period since start of Qatargate,” Transparency International has said. “This means that at least 53 MEPs were in breach of the Parliament’s own code of conduct. We say ‘at least’, because there may well be MEPs who have yet to submit declarations for past events. Rather than granting these MEPs an amnesty, as some have suggested, the EP should sanction them, to set an example and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Even those reporting their trips after Qatargate do not necessarily do so on time. Transparency International found that 67% of declarations made after Qatargate came in late. “One declaration, by RE MEP Svenja HAHN, was submitted an eye-popping 1254 days late. In the top-10 of most delayed declarations, Qatar appears three times as a destination,” Transparency International says.
The stipulated time, according to the rule, is that the MEP must submit details no later than the last day of the next month following the final day of attendance at the event.