Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-05-Speech-3-141"
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"en.20000705.4.3-141"2
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"The framework agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission contains numerous useful clarifications, especially on the flow of information. Nevertheless, like 145 other Members, especially those who are members of the SOS Democracy intergroup, I did not vote, for two reasons.
First, Annex 3, which restricts the transmission of confidential information to the European Parliament, represents a step backwards in comparison with the current situation. It is true that the European Parliament cannot always be relied on when it comes to questions of confidentiality. But, conversely, the Commission may use these provisions to cloud delicate questions relating to it.
Secondly, and more importantly, the framework agreement makes absolutely no mention of the fundamental issue of the policy governing relations between the Commission and journalists of its liking. Documents should not normally be given to the press before being sent to the Council and Parliament. But this is a far cry from what actually happens. We frequently read in the newspapers about Commission proposals which, officially, are still confidential. This puts Members in the ridiculous position of having to comment on texts which they know nothing about.
These incidents are no accident. This is a deliberate policy on the part of the Commission to win journalists’ favour by leaking texts to those who qualify as friends, so that they can benefit from them. Anyone not on the list of friends goes to press a week later and therefore appears not to be at the cutting edge, which is obviously very bad for them. So, logically, everyone tries to please the Commission in order to get on its list of friends. This is one of the ways in which the Commission keeps everyone under control.
Consequently, a framework agreement which wanted a minimum code of conduct would have needed to clearly prohibit the Commission from leaking documents to journalists before sending them to members and would have needed to make provision for officials guilty of infringing this rule to be punished. With no such provisions, we feel that the Commission's good resolutions on transparency are seriously misleading."@en1
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