George Soros's relationship with the Commission
28.1.2019
Question for written answer E-000431-19
to the Commission
Rule 130
György Hölvényi (PPE)
According to the public calendar of Members of the Commission[1], in the past four years George Soros has had at least 15 face-to-face meetings with the President, the First Vice-President and other Vice-Presidents of the Commission, as well as Commissioners.
According to lobbyfacts.eu[2], lobbyists from one of George Soros’s NGOs, the Open Society European Policy Institute, had at least 49 meetings with senior Commission officials (Commissioners, members of Cabinets and Directors-General) between 2014 and 2018. In recent years, therefore, George Soros and his lobbyists have held a total of at least 64 meetings with senior Commission officials. No Head of State or Government of any EU Member State had the opportunity to directly consult the Commission’s leadership on so many occasions.
According to the public calendar of Members of the Commission, Commissioner Vera Jourova received George Soros for face-to-face meetings on 11 June 2015, 26 April 2017 and 9 November 2017.
In relation to these three meetings I would like to ask:
- 1.Who proposed them and why were they arranged?
- 2.What was discussed during the meetings?
Does the Commission consider it appropriate for a person who has no political mandate based on democratic elections and who is a well-known businessman to be allowed to consult the Commission’s most senior officials so frequently?