New anti-corruption petition addresses transparency in the extractive industries

Several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have launched a petition against corruption. The petition calls for the European Commission and EU Member States to propose legislation and mechanisms to fight corruption, in particular in EU relations with third countries.

Publish What You Pay (PWYP) is pleased to see that of its five substantive points, the petition lists actions on transparency and revenue disclosure in the extractive industries.

The text reads:

• The EU should require extractives companies regulated in EU jurisdictions to fully disclose payments made to governments of the countries where they operate.
• The EU should encourage resource-rich countries to adhere to the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and provide EITI with enhanced political, financial and technical support.
• The EU should encourage governments and stock exchanges to demand higher standards in the reporting of revenue payments by oil, gas and mining companies, notably reporting on a country-by-country basis. The EU should also support the civil society campaign ‘Publish What You Pay’ (PWYP).

The cross-party initiative is being promoted by MEPs Ana Gomes (PSE, Portugal), Fiona Hall (ALDE, UK), José Ribeiro e Castro (EPP, Portugal), Luisa Morgantini (GUE, Italy), Marie-Hélène Aubert (Greens, France) and Ryan Eoin (UEN, Ireland). The petition is supported by Global Witness and Transparency International.

PWYP encourages all members of civil society to sign the petition by clicking the link above.