Rule 34 : Intergroups

1.   Individual Members may form Intergroups or other unofficial groupings of Members, for the purpose of holding informal exchanges of views on specific issues across different political groups, drawing on members of different parliamentary committees, and of promoting contact between Members and civil society.

2.   Intergroups as well as other unofficial groupings shall be fully transparent in their actions and shall not engage in any activities which might result in confusion with the official activities of Parliament or of its bodies. They may not organise events in third countries that coincide with a mission of an official Parliament body, including an official election observation delegation.

3.   Provided that the conditions laid down in Parliament’s internal rules governing the establishment of such groupings are complied with, a political group may facilitate their activities by providing them with logistical support.

4.   Intergroups shall be required to make an annual declaration of any support, whether in cash or in kind (e.g. secretarial assistance), which, if offered to Members as individuals, would have had to be declared under Annex I.

Other unofficial groupings shall also be required to declare, by the end of the following month, any support, whether in cash or in kind, which Members have not declared individually in accordance with their obligations under Annex I.

5.   Only interest representatives who are registered in the Transparency register may participate in intergroup or other unofficial grouping activities organised on Parliament’s premises, for instance by attending meetings or events of the intergroup or other unofficial grouping, by offering support to it, or by co-hosting its events.

6.   The Quaestors shall keep a register of the declarations referred to in paragraph 4. The Quaestors shall adopt detailed rules on those declarations and their publication on Parliament’s website.

7.   The Quaestors shall ensure the effective enforcement of this Rule.