ECONOMY

CIVIL SOCIETY: 44 PRACTICES


TOPIC:

Initiative

Transparency in the financial interest statements of MPs

Transparency in the financial interest statements of MPs
SUBMITTED FROM:

VOULIWATCH

Vouliwatch is a non for profit parliamentary monitoring organisation that engages Greek citizens with legislative politics and grants them with the opportunity to communicate, evaluate and hold elected representatives in the Greek and the European Parliament accountable. 

 

Read more:  www.vouliwatch.gr


Contact

Objective Action

Change and improvement of the legal framework as well as the means and method of publication of the financial interest statements of the members of the Greek Parliament.

 

Target Audience

Greek citizens, voters, institutional partners of the Greek Parliament, Greek Members of Parliament and European Parliament, the political leadership of the country, researchers, journalists, political as well as legal scientists and civil society organisations (NGOs and citizen initiatives, transparency and accountability promoting organisations).

 

Duration

May 2016 - ongoing as the financial interest statements are still uploaded on the profiles of MPs on Vouliwatch.


Description

In May 2016, with a three year delay, the financial interest statements of MPs and MEPs as well as of the officials in charge for the financials of the political parties were finally made public.

Both the legal as well as the practical framework pertaining to the publication of the financial details of MPs and MEPs was intransparent and anachronistic. Specifically:

  • The statements although list the assets of politicians do not specify how these were acquired.
  • Many financial interest statement forms have not been fully completed by politicians despite the fact that they were obliged to do so.
  • The forms are virtually incomprehensible to the average citizen as they contain more than forty different tax codes which cannot be easily deciphered without an appropriate guide.
  • The forms are published on the Parliament’s website in a “closed” format: scanned pdfs in non machine readable format.
  • The period of their publication was limited to just thirty days, after which the Parliament removes them from the website and therefore from public scrutiny for good.
  • The partial reproduction of the financial interest statements is considered illegal, one can only reproduce the document in its entirety. This way the double checking of their content with other available online sources is rendered virtually impossible.

Vouliwatch, in its effort to promote transparency and accountability carried forward the following actions:

For the first time in Greece it published on its website all financial interest statements of MPs and MEPs in electronic format. In doing so it de-coded their content so that every citizens would be able to go through the statements and actually comprehend their content. The statements were uploaded in a dedicated section on the profiles of each MP and MEP hosted on Vouliwatch’s website. An example of how financial interest statements are published by the Parliament can be found here. While the statements published by Vouliwatch on MPs profiles can be seen here.

Vouliwatch designed and implemented a campaign informing citizens on the anachronistic legal/practical framework with regards to the financial interest statements which included:

  1. The publication of articles explaining the issue at hand on Vouliwatch’s website and subsequently their dissemination via the organisation’s mailing list and social media. The texts were translated in English and disseminated to the various international NGO forums and associations that Vouliwatch is a member of (approximately 300.000 people reached).

  2. Newsletters sent to over 5.000 Vouliwatch subscribers.

  3. Presentation and dissemination of the campaign in mass media (morning show on ERT1, Sto Kokkino radio station, The Press Project, Huffington Post, Popaganda.gr).

  4. Production of short info-video that was watched by more than 20.000 viewers.

  5. Creation of comprehensive infographic listing the problems as well as the results of our findings which was disseminated to the aforementioned audiences.

  6. Creation of online petition on AVAAZ so as to pressure parliament to change the legal framework relevant to the publication of politician’s financial statements.

  7. Drafting and sending to the President of Parliament and the President of the Special Parliamentary Committee on financial statements a letter informing them on the intransparent framework and demanding that they serve adequately the principles of political transparency and accountability.

  8. Drafting and sending personalized letters to each MP/MEP informing them of our actions (publishing of their financial statements on their profiles on Vouliwatch’s website) and asking them to give their written consent so that their statements can be permanently uploaded (and public) on the website of Vouliwatch.

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Impact on Society

The campaign was overall successful  both in terms of its reach to the wider audience as well as at an institutional level.

Audience impact:

The website’s content relevant to the campaign received a total of 30.110 unique visits between May-June 2016, the campaign’s video was viewed by more than 16.000 viewers (youtube + facebok) while the newsletters sent reached more than 10.000 people (MPs, MEPs, journalists, citizens, civil society).

Impact at an institutional level:

The law pertaining to the financial statements of politicians was amended with the drafting of a new law N.4389/22.05.2016 and articles (172-183). According to the new law:

  1. The whole process is now under the responsibility of the Special Committee of Institutions and Transparency of the Parliament. Prior to this the body in charge was the Committee of Control of Financial Statements and Assets. This shift is an important one as the body responsible is no longer a “technical” one but a political one which is subject to scrutiny by the parliament.
  2. The publication of the financial interest statements will last for the entire period that the politicians hold office plus another 3 years following the completion of their term. This constitutes a significant change for the better as the previous law foresaw a period of publication of merely 30 days.
  3. The responsible committee will be publishing the financial interest statements within 3 months of receipt. The statements will have to be submitted by the MPs within ninety days from entering office. Additionally they will have to submit their statements every year until the 30th of June.
  4. The submission of the financial interest statements in electronic format will be mandatory.


Initiative Location

Greece and abroad (USA, GB, Germany, France, Spain).


Working with Organization

No cooperation.


Workers Participation

The campaign was coordinated and promoted by the five main members of staff of Vouliwatch: Stefanos Loukopoulos (Co-founder - Managing Director), Panagiotis Vlachos (Co-founder - Strategy), Maria Nathanael (Communications Officer), Konstantinos Mentzelos (Content Administrator) and Gerasimos Livitsanos (Parliamentary correspondent).


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Benefits for Οrganization

Through this campaign Vouliwatch interacted with institutional bodies, managed to establish a productive line of communication with the Parliament and last but not least introduced itself to a wider audience as an effective pressure group towards parliament and the broader political spectrum.

Additionally the campaign’s tools (such as the petition and video) served to influence parliament and the relevant Ministry to draft a new law which is characterized by more openness and transparency.




Connection with Global Goals



No Connection with Global Goals found





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