But far-right and right-wing MEPs opposed it, using a procedural maneuver to slow things down: The Patriots for Europe, European Conservatives and Reformists and EPP argued that before the Parliament can officially engage with the body, the house’s own rules of procedure need to be amended.
The Greens’ Daniel Freund, the lead negotiator on the creation of the ethics body last term, said “it’s not true” that the Parliament needs to tweak its internal rules to engage with the body, adding that the EPP “tried to weaken it or outright prevent it in the past.”
Some lawmakers also fear that Sven Simon, who led the EPP’s charge against the body during the last mandate and is now the chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, may be seeking to bring it down altogether.
MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar, S&D’s lead in the committee, said Simon could “take advantage” of his position as chair “to obstruct the fulfillment” of the EU ethics body agreement.
“The most worrying thing is that, in an uninhibited way, the EPP has arranged an opposing majority [to S&D, Renew and Greens] with the three far-right groups … to object or postpone the implementation of the agreement,” he said.
But talking to POLITICO in his office, Simon said that as chair he will be “neutral and objective” during the process, insisting clarification is needed on who nominates the body’s advisory experts.
When the Constitutional Affairs Committee reaches an agreement, the rules of procedure will need to be ratified by the plenary, where they risk being brought down by the Venezuela majority.