Brussels makes official anti-corruption body after 'Qatargate'
The European Commission today formalises the creation of the Inter-Institutional Ethics Body, intended for members of the institutions of the European Union (EU) to combat corruption cases such as the scandal known as 'Qatargate' through common standards.
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Mundo 'Qatargate'
In a statement, the EU executive said that an agreement with all other EU institutions on the creation of the first Inter-Institutional Ethics Body, as proposed by the European Commission last year, will be signed today in Brussels.
"The body will establish common standards for the ethical conduct of members and a formal mechanism for coordination and exchange of views on ethical requirements between the institutions. Thanks to these developments, EU policymakers will be subject to common, clear, transparent and understandable rules," the institution argues.
Present at the ceremony will be the Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourová, as well as the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, representing the Council of the EU (an institution that brings together the Member States of the European bloc and is currently under the presidency of Belgium).
The President of the Court of Justice of the EU, Koen Lenaerts, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Oliver Röpke, and the Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions, Luca Menesini, will also participate.
The European Parliament and the European Central Bank will be represented by video messages from their respective presidents, Roberta Metsola and Christine Lagarde.
After today's signing, the publication in the Official Journal of the EU will follow and, 20 days later, the agreement will enter into force.
"The body will be fully operational as soon as possible, after the participating institutions have nominated their candidates for membership," said the European Commission.
The idea is to implement common and transparent rules on issues such as the receipt of offers, hospitality and travel offered by third parties, conditionality and transparency measures, interests and assets to be declared, parallel or external activities and post-term activities of former members.
The Inter-Institutional Ethics Body also aims to apply a common framework for compliance monitoring and follow-up.
The announcement for this new body was made following the corruption scandal that became known as 'Qatargate', which involved members (politicians, officials, lobbyists) of the European Parliament and families, accused of money laundering and organized crime after offers from Qatar to allegedly try to buy influence in the European assembly.
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