EU Parliament Votes vs. Transparency

Austrian MEP information update

This is a follow-up to cm’s inspiring posting:

The European Parliament votes against transparency

I’ve already sent emails like the ones suggested to the Austrian MEPs, and if you’d like to do the same, here goes:

Email addresses of Austrian MEPs can be found here (their official website)

MEPs Who Voted vs. Transparency

• ÖVP: Bernhuber, Mandl, Pirchner, 

• SPÖ: Bielowski, Heide, Regner, Sidl, Schieder

• NEOS: Gamon

• Grüne: Waitz, Wiener

MEPs Who Voted for Transparency

• FPÖ: Haider, Vilimsky

MEPs Who Abstained

ÖVP: Karas, Winzig, Sagartz, Bernhuber

---

Note to Fellow Citizens of Other EU Member-States

You can (should) do the same; you can easily find out about how these MEPs voted by going through the above-linked posting by cm.

You can easily find the MEPs contact details on the official websites of the EU in your country.

Here’s my translation (in English) of cm’s message to MEPs:

Dear Madam or Sir,

on 17 January 2024, as representatives of our beautiful country in the European Parliament, you voted against this amendment to the European Ombudsman's annual report: ‘[The European Parliament] congratulates the European Ombudsman for her exemplary efforts during the pandemic to protect citizens' rights from the unprecedented abuse by the Commission and to investigate the Commission's refusal to grant access to documents and text messages related to the negotiation of contracts for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines with public funds.’ And also this motion found no favour in your eyes: ‘[The European Parliament] calls on the Ombudsman to continue to urge the Commission to publish without delay the unredacted contracts related to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.’

Regardless of one's personal opinion on COVID-19 vaccines, transparency should be a matter of course. I would therefore be interested in your reasons for rejecting these positions, after all, the next EU elections are coming up and I would like to make an informed decision.

Yours sincerely

Don’t let them get off scot-free. I’m, of course, very much aware of the limitations of citizen action, but, as the saying also goes, ‘Kleinvieh macht auch Mist’, which literally translates into ‘even small livestock leaves a lot of poop’, but its more appropriate rendition is: ‘a penny saved is a penny got’.

Don’t give in.