MdEPs erlegen sich nach Skandal um Assistentengehälter strengere Regeln auf[en] 

Under the new rules, MEPs will no longer be free to decide how they spend their monthly staff allowance. 

The amount they can spend on external services, such as research studies and other advisory work, will be capped at 25%, while at least 75% of their assistance allowance will be reserved for contracts that are subject to social security payments. Moreover, the conclusion of staff contracts with relatives will be forbidden - although existing contracts may be extended for one parliamentary term.

According to sources, agreement on the ratio was the toughest point of the negotiations, with some members clearly opposing the 25% cap. 

The issue of parliamentary assistance expenses arose after Dutch Green MEP Paul van Buitenen made public, last March, a confidential committee summary giving details of numerous payment abuses (EurActiv 07/03/08). In one case, a MEP had paid €15,495 out of his €15,500 monthly staff allowance to a single assistant through a service provider. 

To tackle such arbitrary payments, the Bureau has also decided to set up its own payments agency, which MEPs will have to use to pay local assistants, employed in their respective member states. The aim is to avoid conflicts of interest, such as cases in which deputies authorised relatives to take care of the payment. 

The new measures will come into effect alongside a new MEPs' statute after the next European elections in June 2009. 

British ALDE MEP Diana Wallis, who is a member of the European Parliament's Bureau and the eight-member working group responsible for drafting the proposal, admitted the package adopted on Wednesday (9 July) is "not perfect" but insisted that it nevertheless represents "a huge step forward for transparency in the European Parliament". It would remedy "the systematic flaws highlighted by our internal auditor," she added. 

She also called on the Commission to come up with a proposal on a statute for assistants, which is a key demand of the Liberals and the Greens and which has already been under discussion for years. It was proposed by the Commission back in 1998 but did not get the Council's approval. 

Now the Parliament also has a say on the matter, and according to earlier statements by MEPs, the Commission could present a fresh draft before by the end of the year. This would enable it to be adopted along with a revised statute for MEPs next summer. 

The new parliamentary assistants' statute would, for the first time, grant assistants a common status at EU level, with rules on social security and taxes, which have thus far been covered by the different laws of the respective member state. 

According to Parliament sources, the statute faces opposition from within the EPP-ED Group, while the Socialists are not expected to stand in the way if a cross-party compromise can be struck. 

Commenting on the Bureau's decision, Socialist Group President Martin Schulz (DE) described the assistant scheme as "a third crucial element promoting full transparency and accountability within our institution".