MEPs should pay for their own foreign trips to avoid suspicion of undue influence, a German member of the European Parliament (EP) has said, after rebelling over a recent visit to Azerbaijan.
"We get a budget from taxpayers for expenses like this to unquestionably ensure independence and integrity," German Green MEP Niklas Nienaß told EUobserver.
But there's also "a lot of so called 'friendship groups' to various countries in the [EU] Parliament, which offer nice trips and exclu...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.