MEPs’ assistants to stay one more year in irregularity

European Parliament officials on 19 May approved new rules for the employment of MEPs’ assistants after an internal audit uncovered gross irregularities. But the measures will only be enforced after the European elections in July 2009.

A comprehensive proposal to reform the system of MEPs’ expenses and allowances, put forward by Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering, includes clearer rules on the employment of assistants. 

The move follows the disclosure earlier in March of a damning internal audit report detailing abuses of the current payment system (EURACTIV 07/03/08).

The audit report remained the Parliament’s best-kept secret until MEP Paul van Buitenen, the whistleblower who caused the resignation of the Santer Commission in 1999, disclosed its general content on his website. 

It became known that many assistants were in fact living illegally under the Parliament’s umbrella, without paying taxes or social charges, and were also in many cases chronically underpaid by their bosses. 

The audit also found that large proportions of the €15,500 that each MEP receives each month to pay staff often found its way back into MEPs pockets through a variety of dubious schemes. 

British MEP Tom Wise (NI, UK Independence Party) was recently caught by a hidden camera bragging that he was “milking the system” of the European Parliament. Following press exposure, he said he was pleased that the matter had been exposed so the public could see just how much money is being wasted by the European Union. 

New rules 

Under the new scheme, MEPs will remain free to hire whoever they want as assistants but they will no longer be allowed to employ close family members. 

Another novelty is that assistants’ contracts will be managed by certified paying agents. The fiscal and social security aspects of employment contracts will now also be properly addressed. 

The new rules are to enter into force in July 2009 after the European elections, at the same time as the new single statute for MEPs. Among other things, this statute provides for new rules on travel expenses, which will only be reimbursed based on actual cost. 

Read more with Euractiv

Interview: MEP calls for TV debate to choose 'Mr. Europe'

Leading French MEP Alain Lamassoure is to put forward a motion for a Parliament resolution calling for a televised grilling of the candidates for the EU's future permanent president. Those asking the questions should be the heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries, he told EURACTIV in an interview.