Icon: enlarge
EU politician Giegold (in November 2018 at the Green Party Congress in Leipzig): »I am not saying that lobbying is a problem for a single party«
Photo: Hendrik Schmidt / picture alliance / dpa
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Giegold, members of the Union in the Bundestag have allegedly cashed in on the business with corona protective masks.
Would it have been even worse if the European Parliament had been responsible?
To person
Sven Giegold
, born in 1969, is spokesman for the German Greens in the European Parliament.
The financial expert has been in the EU Parliament since 2009, he had only joined the Greens a year earlier.
The economist was previously one of the heads of the globalization-critical organization Attac.
Sven Giegold:
On the contrary.
What two Union MPs apparently allowed themselves in the Bundestag would have been much more difficult to do in the European Parliament.
In recent years we have enforced stricter rules there against lobbying and corruption that protect our democracy.
In Berlin, on the other hand, the CDU and CSU have been blocking the attempt to create more binding rules in the relationship between money and politics for years.
SPIEGEL:
The black-red coalition has just decided to introduce a so-called lobby register, which is supposed to document the contacts between interest representatives and politicians.
Giegold:
First of all, this admission only came after several Union MPs were accused of being bribed by the Azerbaijani government and the Amthor business became known.
Second, the planned register in Berlin is supposed to record the names of the stakeholders, but not their meetings with the government or parliamentarians.
This means that there is no crucial information about which groups have influenced politics and how.
"Berlin can learn from Brussels."
SPIEGEL:
And is that different in the European Parliament?
Giegold:
Of course.
All MEPs are obliged to disclose their lobbying contacts in the legislation.
And the same applies to the top officials of the EU Commission.
In the EU, there are now strict regulations for ancillary income, and party donations are capped at 18,000 euros.
Whistleblowers enjoy comprehensive protection, citizens can complain to the ombudswoman about EU institutions, and the commissioners have to disclose their financial situation.
Berlin can learn from Brussels on all these points.
A binding set of rules is necessary.
Individual resignations or a toothless code of conduct, as the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag is now calling for, are not enough to counter structural corruption.
SPIEGEL:
There may be stricter rules in the EU, but insufficient monitoring is carried out to ensure that they are being adhered to.
Giegold:
There is something to it.
MPs are currently checking whether their colleagues are adhering to the rules that have been adopted.
And it is the Commission that has to approve a commissioner to move into business.
But self-control has never proven itself when dealing with money and power.
SPIEGEL:
What do you have in mind?
Giegold:
We Greens are in favor of setting up a small authority, like in France, which independently checks the enforcement of the regulations in the EU and can also impose penalties in case of doubt.
Even Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has spoken out in favor of the proposal, but unfortunately this independent control is rejected by the negotiator of the conservative EPP group in the EU Parliament.
As in Berlin, the Christian Democrats in Brussels are blocking the move towards an incorruptible democracy.
SPIEGEL: It's
not just politicians from the CDU or CSU who are following the call of money.
In recent years, more and more Green MPs have switched to business, such as Matthias Berninger, a former member of the Bundestag, who now represents the interests of the Bayer Group.
Giegold:
I'm not saying that lobbying is a problem for a single party.
I would never put my hand in the fire for everyone in our party.
That is precisely why we need structural solutions.
It is up to the Union parties to finally resolve the blockade of strict and binding rules.
Icon: The mirror