Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are increasingly absent from committee meetings, and their conduct is getting increasingly poor, according to a letter from Bernd Lange, head of the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament, Politico reports.

“(...) this low attendance risks diminishing the relevance and quality of the debates … and has the potential to negatively affect the overall engagement with the committee’s interlocutors,” reads, in particular, the letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Such conduct by MEPs could lead to experts and European Commission officials simply stopping speaking to lawmakers.

As per Lange, attendance at meetings has been “gradually diminishing” since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, Lange warned that some MEPs’ conduct is getting worse, which “can at times descend into behaviors that are not conducive to our institution’s dignity.”