91,513 ONE Members call on Mr Lehne to help fight corruption
The European Parliament in Brussels is quiet the week after Easter. But Klaus-Heiner Lehne, the Member of the European Parliament responsible for drafting new anti-corruption laws, was hard at working meeting ONE and members of the Publish What You Pay coalition.
The message from ONE members was clear:
“Please stand up to corporate lobbying against proposed EU laws requiring oil, gas and mining companies to publish payments to foreign governments. Pass strong laws that will help citizens spot corruption and ensure the money is used to lift millions of people out of poverty”.
During a useful meeting we talked through why we believe it is so important to get the technical aspects right – failure to do so will prevent citizens from having the information that will allow them to hold their Governments to account.
Klaus-Heiner Lehne MEP (middle) with ONE’s Alexander Woollcombe (left) and Gavin Hayman from Global Witness.
Negotiations on details such as project reporting and getting rid of exemptions will continue for the next few weeks between Mr Lehne on behalf of the Parliament and representatives of EU Member States.
This is a complex issue but European leaders are hearing ONE members’ message. Mr Lehne said, “if we want to fight corruption we must have greater transparency”. However, we must keep the pressure on – we’re still concerned that the technicalities of the new laws will not have the desired impact unless improvements are made. We continue to need your voice but we are being heard. His assistant told me as we were in the lift – “we’ve definitely noticed the hundreds of letters your members have been sending”.
Thanks to all who have done this in addition to signing the petition!
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