New oversight rules fail to catch MEP 'friendship groups'

Efforts by the European Parliament to impose some form of accountability on so-called 'friendship groups' appear to have been ignored.

These unregulated bodies are sometimes used by MEPs to grant foreign governments closed-door access to the EU institution.

They also circumvent public scrutiny in Brussels, yet can often be found quoted in overseas media outlets as if citing the official position of the European Parliament.

Such groups have caused headaches for official Europ...