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The Irish MEP was spotted almost naked from the waist down on his webcam during the virtual sitting of the institution’s agriculture committee. They were discussing the European Commission’s new budget proposal with commissioner Johannes Hahn. The EU Parliament is currently allowing remote participation because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The apparent gaffe sparked a hilarious response from his colleagues who couldn’t contain their giggles.

But Mr Flanagan later revealed he was wearing a pair of shorts after returning from a run.

He joked: “Just back from a run, I was in a T-shirt two minutes before.

“Decided to put on a shirt to look respectable! That worked really well.”

After delivering his intervention in the committee meeting, Mr Flanagan seemingly reached to switch off his webcam before the broadcast switched to chairman Norbert Lin.

Unlike Westminster, the European Parliament doesn’t set a strict dress code for its politicians.

During the lockdown MPs were ordered to wear shirt and tie even when taking part in debates from their homes.

After the footage started to spread across social media, Mr Flanagan saw the funny side of the video.

He even messaged his countryman Mick Wallace, who is often spotted wearing neon-coloured clothing, saying: “I’ll see your pink shirt and raise you a pair of underwear.”

In recent years, the EU Parliament has witnessed other unruly dressers at official debates and hearings.

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Magid Magid, a former British Green Party MEP, would often attend the Hemicycle chamber wearing a baseball cap, shorts and Dr Martens boots.

After their election last year, Liberal Democrat MEPs attended their first Strasbourg session in “b******* to Brexit” T-shirts.

Despite the lax dress code, MEPs are often slapped down by the Parliament’s many vice-presidents for displaying their national flag on their desks.

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Eurocrats decided the institution should be free of national symbols during key debates.

Brexit Party MEPs fell foul of the ruling during a discussion over Britain’s divorce from the bloc last January.

During Nigel Farage’s final speech after 20 years as an MEP saw him ordered to “put your flags away”.

Mairead McGuiness, who was charing the debate, said: “Please sit down and take your seats, put your flags away, and take them with you.”

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