Socialists and Democrats want an up to 24-month ‘cooling-off period’ for MEPs at the end of their mandate if they want to take up lobbying activities.
Nevertheless, the adopted measures go further than President Metsola’s 14-point reform plan.
Andreas Schieder, S&D spokesperson and negotiator in the INGE committee, said: “The investigations of INGE have shown us that the problem of foreign influence is bigger than we thought. Authoritarian countries, such as Russia and China, are trying to divide and weaken the EU, and undermine our democratic model. ‘Qatargate’ has revealed that we, in the European Parliament, are not immune to foreign interference either.”