The European Parliament's political blocs backed new rules on Thursday to curb its members' rights to hold other jobs, but disappointed some who said there should be more transparency on lobbying in Brussels, Reuters reported. The proposed new code, set to be voted into law around October, comes after a Reuters report highlighted conflicts of interest in the European Parliament and a British newspaper exposed lawmakers ready to sell their influence. The code would oblige lawmakers to disclose earnings from work outside parliament and to drop jobs that conflict with writing EU legislation. "We now have a strong proposal for the first-ever code of conduct for the European Parliament," said the parliament's president, Jerzy Buzek, who spearheaded the reform. But the new regime disappointed some after Buzek failed to convince EU lawmakers that they should disclose with whom they had been in contact when writing legislation. "This reform has got stuck half way," said Sven Giegold, a Green member of parliament who founded a group to challenge the influence of the financial-sector lobby. "Second incomes are only one problem among many." "There is no binding lobby register," the German lawmaker said. "We are still at the standard of the developing world in terms of transparency, compared to the United States, where it must be declared which lobbyists have had influence on legislation." -- SPA
