Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-08-Speech-4-009"
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"en.20080508.3.4-009"2
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"Mr President, I am really glad to attend this plenary session where your discussion on the European Transparency Initiative will come to a conclusion. I have been following your debates and have participated in your debates in different committees. I am convinced that the report as it stands is a real step forward to improving transparency in the European decision-making process.
The Commission welcomes the positive reaction of the European Parliament to its suggestion to consider an interinstitutional approach for a register and a code of conduct for interest representatives, who think that such a one-stop shop for registration would best serve the purpose of enhancing transparency, while avoiding an unnecessary administrative burden. I think that your report is an excellent starting point for discussions in the future interinstitutional working group that you suggest.
I would like to underline one point. The European Commission is convinced that the activities of interest representatives are legitimate and offer valuable input in the decision-making process, but things have to happen in a transparent manner. This is why the European Transparency Initiative aims at opening what is too often perceived as a black box. Citizens, stakeholders, decision-makers and the public at large can then form their own views of what is going on in Brussels.
When I look at what information Parliament and the Commission expect registrants to disclose, I observe that, here again, we largely agree. The Commission considers that it is important to know who the interest representatives are, what interests they represent and against what financial background. It goes without saying that non-respect of the rules of the code of conduct must be followed by sanctions. Sanctions would mean suspension or even withdrawal from the register.
The Commission announced that it would launch its European Transparency Initiative Register in spring 2008. I can assure you that we expect to meet this deadline. Having recently talked to the services, I expect the register to open in six weeks’ time. We have also decided that the register is a pilot project and that we shall review it after one year, which means in early summer 2009. The European Commission is ready for discussions with Parliament and the Council of Ministers, as well as the two consultative committees, in working towards the development of a shared system."@en1
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