The European Parliament already voted twice for stronger rules on transparency, accountability and integrity. Today, we make these new rules a reality in the Rules of Procedure, which will be ramped up with strong provisions on transparency.

Defying European Parliament President Metsola, a member of the European People's Party (EPP) Group, conservative members voted against some of the tighter rules that would strengthen transparency and integrity in members conduct.

The new rules include: stronger rules on declaration of conflict of interests for chairs, European Parliament vice-presidents, rapporteurs, shadow rapporteurs and members of official delegations; an obligation on all members to publish all meetings online; new rules that make it an obligation for members to declare their assets; and full transparency about members' side jobs if their annual side income is above €5,000.

S&D vice-president Gaby Bischoff, leading the changes to the Rules of Procedure, said:

“Today is a good day for stronger transparency in the European Parliament. The new rules will hopefully increase the trust European citizens have in the only directly elected institution of the European Union ahead of the European elections next year.

“Change is not always easy, but in this case change was made much more difficult by the EPP Group, which has not only dragged its feet, but also spread disinformation ahead of the vote. In the end, citizens can see who voted against making the European Parliament a more open and more transparent institution.

“Despite a right-wing alliance attempt to water down changes, we managed to take this process over the finishing line thanks to a progressive majority led by the Socialists and Democrats. Today, a vast majority did the right thing and we delivered on our promises to strengthen trust and integrity in this democratic institution.”