EU: TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE DELAYED UNTIL NOVEMBER.

The measure also represents the Commission laying down the gauntlet to Members of the European Parliament and the member states to introduce the same rules about declaring their financial interests as the Commission. Mr Barroso won a censure vote in the European Parliament in June called by MEPs who criticised him for accepting a cruise on a yacht belonging to a friend without declaring it. At the time, Mr Barroso said that the Commissioners were operating under the most open set of standards governing public servants and challenged the other institutions, especially MEPs, to match them.

There are three main elements to the initiative.

- Bringing greater transparency over the actual recipients of EU funds;

- Ensuring an "ethical level playing field" across the institutions; and

- Bringing greater transparency to the decision-making process by laying down guidelines for dealing with campaign groups and lobbying organisations.

One the first point, the Commission wants all member states to agree to publish the names of final recipients of EU money from the structural funds and the budget for the...