Assistants’ statute faces opposition

Date: 01/04/1999

By Gareth Harding

Measures to improve the working conditions of MEPs' assistants face a bumpy ride through the Council of Ministers after a number of Union governments voiced doubts about giving members' staff lucrative EU contracts.

The European Parliament adopted a report last month which aims to bring assistants within EU staff rules, but would leave it up to the assembly to decide how much they are paid and under what conditions they are employed.

The Commission, which is the only EU body which can initiate legislation, has now come forward with an amended version of the plan, which will be discussed by finance ministers in June.

But Bonn is worried about setting up another category of privileged officials and is likely to be supported by several other EU governments when the issue is debated.

The Union's Court of Auditors has also weighed into the fray by questioning the legality of the Commission's plans.

In an opinion on the proposal, the EU's financial watchdog said the assembly could not lay down its own staff regulations. However, a Parliament official insisted this was “not a matter for the Court of Auditors to pronounce on”.

Meanwhile, Belgium and France, where most of the assistants are employed, are lobbying hard for a regularisation of the rules. The pressing need for a statute was highlighted by a recent survey of working conditions by the Association of European Parliamentary Assistants. It found that 10&percent; of MEPs' helpers are paid 'cash in hand', almost a quarter have no contract and the vast majority are employed on terms which do not comply with Belgian law.

The survey also underlined how poorly paid assistants are compared to other staff working in the European institutions. Whereas the lowest-paid EU official starts on €4,000 a month, the average assistant earns about €1,240.