Bid to break deadlock on assistants’ statute

Date: 16/11/00

By

THE European Parliament is pushing ahead with plans for a statute which would give MEPs' assistants full employment rights, convinced it has found a way to stop national governments blocking the proposal.

Previous attempts to draw up a statute for parliamentary assistants have been blocked by member states worried about creating a new class of Brussels' civil servant.

But following a recommendation from an independent expert on the legal procedure required to approve any statute, MEPs have asked the European Commission to draw up a proposal which could be nodded through under the assembly's internal rules without requiring the consent of EU governments.

MEPs' assistants have been clamouring for a statute for years, arguing that they are currently forced to live clandestinely, officially recognised neither by the

EU institutions or by the Belgian authorities. As a result, pay and working conditions vary greatly and some assistants live in Brussels without social security protection.

Parliament President Nicole Fontaine promised to address the problem when she was campaigning for the post, but MEPs' aides - represented by the European Parliamentary Assistants Association - have been unimpressed with the progress made to date. "Fontaine has said that she is determined to have an assistants' statute as soon as possible, but so far we have little evidence that this is the case," said one.

The potential advance follows a report from Professor Georges Vandersanden of the Free University of Brussels. The report questions the previous assumption that implementing the statute would require a change in the rules governing Union staff's working conditions, which would have to be approved unanimously by member states.

Vandersanden suggests that many of the new rules could be adopted under the Parliament's internal procedures, although he stresses that some - such as those relating to taxation - might still have to go to governments for approval.

The professor's report outlines what the proposed statute should cover. He says all assistants should be given a common contract and an identical job description, and recommends setting up a common three-level pay scale, with assistants entitled to a salary increase every year.

Vandersanden acknowledges that it will be impossible to persuade member states to agree that assistants should pay EU taxes on their income - which are lower than national levies - as other Union officials do.

But he suggests that the Parliament should top up wages to offset differences in national taxation, thereby ensuring that although assistants pay tax in their home country, their take-home pay would be the same.

The European Parliament is pushing ahead with plans for a statute which would give MEPs' assistants full employment rights, convinced it has found a way to stop national governments blocking the proposal.