Hans-Peter Martin
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Hans-Peter Martin (born August 11, 1957) is an Austrian journalist who has also been a Member of the European Parliament since 1999.
Born in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Martin used to work for the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel. As a freelance writer, he has written and co-authored several books, among them The Global Trap: Globalization and the Assault on Prosperity and Democracy (Die Globalisierungsfalle, 1996) and Bitter Pills (Bittere Pillen) about the pros and cons of pharmaceuticals.
In the 1999 European Parliament elections Martin was the leader of the Austrian Social Democratic group. However, his individualistic work style and his proclivity for muckraking soon led to alienation from, and a complete break with, that party.
Early in 2004, he accused MEPs of dishonesty concerning the reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses. Martin claimed that the actual costs incurred are considerably less than the attendance allowances to which each MEP is entitled, and that it is a waste of public money that had to be stopped. His work colleagues (spokesman Hans Gert Pöttering) conceded that Martin had a point but were opposed to his aggressive, investigative methods. In response he got himself accused of claiming too much in meal expenses.
On 31 March 2004, he presented a list in Strasbourg with the names of 57 German members of Parliament, who falsely claimed attendance allowances (for days in which they had not attended). He accused members of all parties of falsely putting themselves on the attendance allowance list and then shortly afterwards leaving the building.
Also in 2004 he presented a list of 7,200 cases in which members of Parliament falsely claimed attendance allowance ("day money", per diem allowance).
The spokesmen declared that the accusations were not sustained and not proven. All the members disapproved of the fact that the allegations were made public. The President of Parliament Pat Cox said that he would prefer to deal with the case internally.
Also in 2004, Hans-Peter Martin founded his own party, "Hans-Peter Martin's List — For genuine control and transparency in Brussels" (Liste Dr. Hans-Peter Martin — Für echte Kontrolle in Brüssel). In the European Parliament election, 2004 he received a very surprising 14 per cent of the vote — more than the Greens or the Austrian Freedom Party — and gained two seats for Austria in the European Parliament. His colleague at the time of the elections was Karin Resetarits, a former journalist with both the ORF and a private radio station. However, they soon found themselves in heavy disagreement and ceased to work together. She joined the Liberal group in the European Parliament on June 7, 2005
To promote transparency, in 2005 Hans Peter Martin, Paul van Buitenen (Europa Transparant) and Ashley Mote decided to cooperate under the name Platform for Transparency (PfT).
He also competed in the Austrian legislative elections of 2006 with his party "Dr. Martin's List — For Democracy, Control, Justice" (MATIN), but obtained no seat in the parliament.
