International

The news agency Politico this week launched a frontal attack on the wastefulness of Euro-MPs who consider that they must travel throughout the world in luxury in order to develop and maintain contacts. This year I’m Rapporteur for the European Parliament’s financial accountability, reason enough to dive deeper into this matter. And sure enough there’s a lot of weeding to be done in this particular garden. Not every journey to a country beyond the European Union is useless, but accountability could be improved. We have no need for champagne diplomacy.

When in 2009 I was elected for the first time to the European Parliament, I found it odd that I that I was supposed to participate in a 'delegation'. I had thought that my main duties would involve European legislation, but was assured that every MEP must also take an interest in one of the world’s regions. I chose the ASEAN countries, because they include Indonesia, with which the Netherlands has a historical links. It then began to rain invitations to attend receptions at the various embassies. I politely but clearly turned these down, as I had no need to spend time on such things. The EP has little influence on foreign policy and you have to be careful how much time you spend on this.

I was reelected in 2014 and had to choose a new delegation. This time I went for the Arabian Peninsula, not because of any historical links but mainly simply because it was what was left. And once again the invitations poured in, with the highlight being those for visits to the region. Now, virtually all of these countries are governed by people who don’t pay much attention to human rights, so I don’t fancy raising a companionable glass with them. Even a non-alcoholic glass. I am, when all’s said and done, not the king.

Once I tried to get a delegation of which I was not a member to do something useful. The Russian legislation introduced a few years ago to deal with extremism also affects religious minorities. After consultation I was allowed to present my concerns to the delegation with Russia. Members found this, however, a bit tiresome, because delegations are there primarily to strengthen contacts. You’re suggesting that they should raise nasty human rights concerns over the cocktails.

Politico is correct when it says that the usefulness of these delegations is far from clear. Nevertheless, I would not favour a complete travel ban. Last week I spent 24 hours in Geneva for a series of meetings with the UN and the WTO. That was useful and informative and had direct relevance to my work on the Internal Market Committee. My fellow SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur was in Canada earlier in the year for the World Social Forum and to speak with the anti-CETA movement over there. These were purposeful work trips with clear results.

In my report I won’t so much call for tightening of the bureaucratic rules but urge the establishment of a system of annual reports for EP delegations in which they will have to prove their added value. Performance-based budgeting is all the rage in Brussels at the moment and if we are to force the Commission to work in that way then it should also go for the Parliament itself. I’m curious how the delegation to Latin America will make clear why half a million euros had to be spent on a journey to Uruguay for a hundred – a hundred! – Euro-MPs and staff members. That should be a pleasant discussion.