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Two MEPs have withdrawn their nominations from the MEPs Awards over the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis’s participation as a sponsor, at the moment the topic of an alleged bribery scandal in Greece.
The MEPs Awards occasion, which occurred on Wednesday (29 June), is organised by the Parliament Journal to recognise the work of EU lawmakers in a number of classes akin to agriculture, expertise and well being.
Danish left-wing MEP Nikolaj Villumsen, who was nominated as top-of-the-line EU lawmakers for the well being class, withdrew his nomination earlier this week over the sudden inclusion of a “controversial sponsor”.
Villumsen claimed that the pharmaceutical firm Novartis was not a sponsor underneath the well being class when he was first nominated.
In an open letter, he criticised the organisers for not speaking to the nominees the inclusion of that sponsor.
“You most definitely mustn’t impose sponsors after publishing nominations, and certainly ought to not settle for nominations from corporations concerned in such scandals,” reads Villumsen’s open letter.
Echoing the identical message, liberal MEP Véronique Trillet-Lenoir additionally determined to withdraw her nomination.
“Like my colleague, I made a decision to withdraw my nomination for the MEPs awards 2022 because of the addition of a non-public sponsor,” she tweeted. “This goes in opposition to the rule I set for myself after I joined the European Parliament.”
Greece has accused Novartis of bribing healthcare suppliers and former authorities officers to drive up its gross sales within the nation, and it’s now searching for €214m in compensation.
Past Villumsen and Trillet-Lenoir, Maltese socialist MEP Alex Agius Saliba and Cypress centre-right MEP Loukas Fourlas had been additionally nominated underneath the well being class.
Saliba instructed EUobserver that he was not conscious of his colleagues’ boycott resolution or present allegations in opposition to Novartis.
Fourlas, for his half, gained the award. However he was unavailable to remark thus far.
Others akin to Swedish left-wing MEP Malin Bjork have stated that they didn’t need to win the award because of the sponsors, a supply instructed EUobserver.
The record additionally contains Chinese language expertise big Huawei (underneath the digital class), German engineering agency Bosch (power class), and US multinational Coca-Cola (innovation class).
‘Ample transparency’ wanted
The shortage of transparency concerning the last-minute inclusion of Novartis as a brand new sponsor has additionally triggered criticism among the many judges.
Alice Stollmeyer, government director of NGO Defend Democracy, lastly determined to not attend this week’s occasion as one of many judges — given the raging controversy. She stated invites, which had been despatched first in October, didn’t embody the record of sponsors.
“Good MEPs and their contribution to democracy should be celebrated, however solely when there’s integrity of the sponsors and enough transparency in the course of the course of in direction of the MEPs, the judges and the viewers,” she instructed EUobserver.
Novartis was confirmed as a sponsor one month earlier than the occasion by way of a Parliament Journal complement, distributed on 23 Could and an occasion happening on 26 Could, the Dods Group which publishes the Parliament Journal instructed EUobserver.
“Class sponsors haven’t any involvement within the nominating or judging course of, and no particular entry to MEPs is given to sponsors over another attendee,” they stated, including that they’re reviewing communications with MEPs in gentle of the current occasion.
The Dods Group is a British writer linked to businessman and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Celebration Michael Ashcroft.
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