A Danish liberal MEP has resigned from the board of a bank following possible conflicts of interests risks, in a story first revealed by EUobserver.
On Wednesday (31 July), Stine Bosse of Renew Europe announced she was stepping down as a paid board member of the Norwegian financial services firm, DNB.
"It must not be possible to question my loyalty to the Danish voters who voted for me. Therefore, I have informed DNB that I want to resign from DNB's board today," she said.
The DNB is a registered lobbyist in the EU's joint-transparency register, dealing with issues from the banking industry to climate action and the environment.
The resignation was confirmed by DNB, which said her departure from the board comes "with immediate effect."
Bosse last year was paid €64,000 for role, according to her declaration of private interests.
Her office had also initially told EUobserver that she couldn't step down until April next year "because that's when they will elect a new member".
But pressure has since mounted with similar articles appearing in the Danish media.
When pressed on the reasons to now step down, following the revelations, she told Danish television TV 2 that "question marks have been raised, and this has caused me to reassess."
Her office had initially said there was no issue because she doesn't sit on European Parliament's committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) that deals with financial matters relevant to DNB.
But Bosse is also on the European parliament's environment committee and vice-chair on the subcommittee on public health, where DNB also has direct interests.
The Brussels-office at Transparency International says MEPs should not be involved in any side activities with organisations seeking to influence EU policy making.
“Ms Bosse made the right choice by resigning from the board, but she should not have been left to come to this decision herself," said Transparency International's Shari Hinds, in an email.
Hinds said regulating potential conflicts of interest cannot be left to an MEP's discretion.
"The European Parliament should be demonstrating its integrity and banning these types of side activities. In the absence of effective parliamentary reforms, we hope other MEPs will proactively follow her example," she added.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.
Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.