The Finnish Member of the European Parliament Piia-Noora Kauppi (National Coalition Party) has been named one of the five candidates for the Worst Conflict of Interest Award 2008.
The arguments state that she was nominated ”for abusing her role as an MEP by promoting the interests of her future employer, a big banking lobby group”.
Kauppi has been appointed the Managing Director of the Federation of Finnish Financial Services from the beginning of next year.
The Worst Conflict of Interest Award is given to an MEP, European Commissioner, or EU official whose background or actions are bound to give voters a good cause to be distrustful of his or her impartiality.
The awards are granted in two categories, namely ”the Worst EU Lobbying Award” and ”the Worst Conflict of Interest Award”. Five candidates have been named for both categories.
The Awards 2008 are organized by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, LobbyControl, and Spinwatch.
The idea behind the awards is to discourage controversial lobbying practices by exposing them to the public, who can choose their favourite and submit their vote online. It is possible to vote only for one category.
The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in Brussels on Tuesday December 9th.
