Cox: “Pay and perks vote not end of the line”

Date: 12/12/02

By Martin Banks

EUROPEAN Parliament President Pat Cox has refuted claims that the decision by MEPs to reject a plan to reform their pay and perks has dealt a severe blow to prospects of the assembly shedding its "gravy-train" image.

The Irishman, who has called for reform since 1999, had proposed a deal that would see deputies receive a basic monthly salary of about €8,500 in return for a pledge to clean up their expenses regime.

Members, who currently generally earn the same salary as their national counterparts, voted last week for harmonised salaries but failed to commit themselves to any wholesale reform of their much-criticised expenses system.

The decision incensed some MEPs who described the vote as a "missed opportunity".

But Cox, who had hoped to use a new resolution as the basis to negotiate a new deal on pay with European Union leaders, denied the vote was a personal blow.

He said he was still "confident that further progress can be made very soon".

Cox is due to have talks next week with the German Socialist MEP Willi Rothley, whose report on a statute for MEPs was approved by 296 votes to 136.

"Far from being the end of the road, the vote was a useful basis for further negotiation on this matter," said Cox.

He hopes a compromise package, which would be acceptable to member states who must sanction any deal, could be thrashed out by next summer.

The current pay regime creates large disparities in earnings between, for example, affluent Italians and poorly-paid Spaniards and Greeks. Some members allegedly compensate by abusing the system of travel expenses, which allows them to claim for club-class air fares without providing proof of what they paid. It is claimed that some take cheaper flights, pocketing the difference.

Socialist group leader Enrique Barón Crespo said the onus was now on the European Council to make a decision on the long-running issue.

"The Council's position on this matter up to now has been half-hearted. I just wonder if the Council is really ready for dialogue," he said. Other MEPs said the vote would do nothing to help rid the Parliament of its "gravy-train" image before the EU expands in 2004.

Gary Titley, leader of the UK Socialists, said: "MEPs are dragged into disrepute by an expenses system which has no place in a modern EU. The lack of transparency in the system undermines the valuable work MEPs do representing their country and constituents."

Liberal group leader Graham Watson said the members who blocked reform showed a "lack of respect for the reputation of the European Parliament".

European Parliament President Pat Cox has refuted claims that the decision by MEPs to reject a plan to reform their pay and perks has dealt a severe blow to prospects of the assembly shedding its 'gravy-train' image.