BUSINESSMAN DECLAN Ganley has said he is spending none of his personal wealth on the Libertas campaign to run more than 100 candidates across all 27 EU member states in June’s European elections.
He also pledged to provide full details on the fundraising activities of Libertas, which yesterday set up a new website accepting online donations from the general public. “I haven’t put any of my own money into this campaign. Anything we are putting in now is money we have raised from donors,” said Mr Ganley at the launch of a document advocating openness, transparency and the full disclosure of all MEPs’ expenses.
But when asked to comment on the financing of Libertas, Mr Ganley said he wasn’t ready to reveal details of Libertas’s fundraising yet. “We are not releasing how much we have raised yet. Because it is a combination of online and just regular fundraising. Everything is compliant and within the regs [regulations] in the various member states,” said Mr Ganley, who added that Libertas needed money from the public in all EU states.
Libertas launched a new website in all EU languages yesterday with a special function that enables the public to donate money to help it run its campaign. Mr Ganley said the organisation had ensured that the website only accepted donations that would comply with the myriad of different legal rules in all EU states. He quoted the example of Poland, where it is illegal for non-Polish citizens to donate money to a political campaign.
Mr Ganley said he was “disappointed” by the criticism of Libertas contained in a report by the Irish Standards in Public Office Commission, which found it had not provided information on the funding of its activities during the Lisbon referendum campaign. He said Libertas would provide this information to the commission by March 31st.
Waving a copy of the Lisbon Treaty in his hand, Mr Ganley told journalists at briefing in Brussels that there was a real need for transparency and openness in the EU.
“Unelected bureaucrats will take decisions in a summit costing untold millions to stage. No minutes will be published, only the conclusions that have been decided in your name. The people of Europe will have no say in the process. This is unacceptable,” he said.
He said there needed to be full disclosure of all MEP expenses and voting records and EU leaders’ meetings should be opened to the public. The number of meetings in Brussels should also be cut by 20 per cent, he added.
Mr Ganley said a Libertas manifesto would be published by May.