European Parliament’s new “transparency”: keeping journalists (and lobbyists, and diplomats…) as far away as possible

Brussels – “The changes introduced to the rules […] are part of a broader reform aligning with Parliament’s commitment to ensure transparency, accountability and public trust,” explained the European Parliament to Euronews, justifying certain restrictions on journalists’ freedom of movement within the EU Parliament. 

That is, according to the European Parliament, the more you keep journalists away, the more you guarantee transparency and public trust. Evidently, the key is that the less citizens know, the more they stay quiet and confident, as much as possible in a state of ignorance.

 In the Italian parliament, which, in any case, is not a prime example of transparency, journalists can access every space, meet whomever they want, and, in fact, even monitor what goes on. Not always successfully, not always really wanting to, but being able to be around where the wills and laws that will govern our lives are formed is important. 

In the European Parliament, some officials, and certainly some politicians, are working instead to keep journalists away from decision-making places. For the time being, these are small steps: you will not be able to enter uninvited in weeks when there are no official activities (but where perhaps some MEP or official is at work inside), and you will not be able to enter certain secondary buildings, chosen at will by these diligent officials and politicians. 

This is how it started at the European Commission, now ten years ago: they took away the press review from journalists, organised an absolutely inhospitable press room, with printers that do not work and few lights, restricted access to most of the buildings and then, particularly in recent years, stopped answering journalists’ questions. As a result, the daily briefing of the Commission is almost deserted, and journalists disturb the institution’s work less. 

Perhaps the Parliament think the same, with the cover of the possible presence of some corrupt MPs or officials (which are being investigated, without much success by the Belgian judiciary); they say “let’s keep the environment clean, let’s keep journalists, lobbyists, and diplomats away (yes, there are new limits for diplomats as well) and that way no one will be corrupted anymore and the Parliament will be transparent.” 

Apart from the fact that if you cannot see through, nothing is transparent—so if citizens, through journalists, cannot see, there is no transparency—to think that if a company wants to bribe a politician and this politician is willing to be bribed, they must carry out the practice inside Parliament is pure mockery. The aim is to pull down the curtains, avoid transparency, and thus keep journalists away. In small steps.