International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong has joined NGO Transparency International in an initiative in favour of greater openness amongst Members of the European Parliament. Last year the EP responded to a bribery scandal by adopting a tighter Code of Conduct. De Jong was among the eight MEPs who proposed the new rules. ‘The agreements made then represent a first step in the right direction. Now it appears, however, from a report from Masters’ Students at the Free University of Amsterdam, that these new rules are insufficiently clear and that they do not go far enough. Together with Transparency International and a group of MEPs I want to get to work on improving this.’

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong is delighted with the support for his report ‘Limits to European criminal law’ adopted today by the European Parliament by an overwhelming majority. De Jong: ´There will now be clear, verifiable criteria established which will have to be met before new European rules on the criminal law are proposed. There is no room for symbolic politics or Brussels bureaucracy: only if it is clear from statistical material that a European approach would offer clear value added will the European Parliament consider new rules. That is a new and clear gain.’