Drop the hypocrisy and practice transparency

The president of the European Parliament should have never been exempt from new transparency rules for MEPs introduced after the Qatargate scandal. 

The lacuna in the rules, which were approved by the European Parliament, was exposed by Brussels-based news portal Politico last week. 

Roberta Metsola is under no obligation to declare any potential conflict of interest she or her partner may have. In her case, the issue becomes more pertinent because her husband, Ukko Metsola, is a registered lobbyist for Royal Caribbean, one of the largest cruise ship companies. 

Now, the Metsolas cannot be faulted for being married. It is also true that Ukko has been a registered lobbyist with the EU since 2016, well before his wife became president. Additionally, Roberta could not breach the rules because they did not apply to her in the first place. 

Politico’s expose attributed no wrongdoing to Roberta but pointed out the obvious: In politics, it is the optics of things that count and not just whether there has been actual wrongdoing. 

And the optics in this case are all wrong.  

Roberta may argue that she was not the one to propose the rules and approve them – they were drafted by a parliamentary committee and approved by MEPs. But such a response is nothing more than a naïve attempt to hide the inherent hypocrisy of the situation. 

Even if the transparency rules exempted her, there was nothing that barred Roberta from taking her own initiative to declare potential conflicts of interest. Once again, given who her husband is and the strong commercial interests he represents, she should have taken a proactive approach. 

As things stand today, nobody can be faulted for believing that her statements on transparency when the Qatargate scandal rocked the European Parliament were nothing more than grandstanding. There is no logic in having transparency rules for MEPs but not for the EP President. 

To make matters worse, Roberta recently appointed her brother-in-law as chef de cabinet. She had already tried doing so in 2022 but relented after MEPs pushed back in the wake of the Qatargate scandal. Now, having been returned with a solid mandate for a second term, Roberta did not think twice to go down the road of nepotism. 

It is true that her brother-in-law has been in Roberta’s team for many years but once again, in politics it is the optics that count. What ordinary people can see is an EU parliament president who chose to give her brother-in-law a lucrative promotion. 

There is no difference between Roberta’s behaviour and that of certain Maltese ministers who had their spouses appointed to public posts by fellow Cabinet members. 

And before Roberta’s PR machine goes into overdrive trying to convince doubters in Malta about her good intentions and admirable decisions, it must understand that the EP president is not above reproach. 

But beyond Roberta’s indiscretions, there is a much wider argument to be made on the hypocrisy of Nationalist and Labour politicians. 

No PN MP or functionary has even mildly criticised Roberta for failing to be proactive and declare her conflict of interest; or for appointing a relative to such an important role. The attitude is markedly different from those instances when Labour MPs and ministers breach ethical standards or are caught employing relatives in public posts. 

For PN exponents, what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander, it seems. 

But it is also hypocritical of Labour MEPs, MPs and ministers to try and make hay out of Roberta’s predicament. It is as if they have just discovered the value of transparency. 

If MEPs Daniel Attard and Alex Agius Saliba dedicated an ounce of the energy they spent on criticising Roberta Metsola to convince their own Labour government to introduce a transparency register, their efforts would be more than commendable. But no. To them, Roberta’s misdemeanour is just an occasion to hit out at the Opposition. 

Former Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer is right when he says Malta’s Labour administration should take the lead and introduce a lobby and transparency register, instead of simply taking to task the European Parliament president over her apparent conflicts of interest. 

It was former standards commissioner George Hyzler who drafted a proposal for the regulation of lobbying and the creation of a transparency register in 2020. But his recommendation went unheeded and four years later the transparency register remains a figment of political imagination. 

Politicians should drop the hypocrisy and start practicing genuine transparency. Only then will we appreciate their outrage over a political rival’s indiscretions.