Bid to end ‘gravy train’ could come off the rails

Date: 05/06/03

By Martin Banks

MEPs yesterday adopted a long-debated package aimed at ending their "gravy- train" image - but the deal was immediately denounced as "dead in the water" by some members who say it is certain to be rejected by member states.

Deputies meeting in Strasbourg voted by 323 votes to 167 in favour of a statute for MEPs setting out their expenses, tax status, immunity, pay and pensions. The statute would for the first time stipulate equal pay for deputies, ending the present disparities between what MEPs earn according to their nationality.

It would also clean up the messy expenses regime, which currently enables MEPs to effectively double their salaries (see Page 12).

Under the package, MEPs will be paid €8,500 per month, 50 of a judge's salary at the European Court of Justice; will pay tax of between 20 and 28 to the European Community; and will be reimbursed only for travel expenses incurred and only on production of a receipt.

European Parliament President Pat Cox must now try to sell the package to member states, whose unanimous accord is necessary for the statute to come into force. Cox will discuss it next Wednesday in Brussels with Costas Simitis, prime minister of Greece, current holder of the EU presidency.

Speaking after the vote yesterday (4 June), Cox described the package, which he said had been adopted by "a thumping big majority" as "substantial and credible".

He added: "This issue has been around a very long time and now the time has come for the Council to deliver. I am determined the time has come to bring closure to this."

Under the current system, members can be reimbursed for expenses they have not incurred. A landmark agreement to introduce an expenses regime based on actual cost was reached by the Parliament's bureau (composed of the president and the 14 vice-presidents) last week, paving the way for a deal on the statute.

Currently, members' salaries are linked to those of their national parliament counterparts, with Spanish deputies paid about €30,000 a year while Austrian MEPs receive more than treble that. The deal would introduce equal pay for equal work.

Pro-reform members, however, described the package as "indefensible", saying it was not a "genuine" attempt at reform.

While there is general agreement over the planned reform of MEPs' expenses, one major sticking point for member states will be the issue of tax.

Four states (the UK, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden) want to be allowed to top up MEPs' tax to levels of national parliamentarians, but the statute contains no provision for this.

German MEP Willi Rothley, the rapporteur on the statute, said, however, that members may be willing to make concessions on this.

"I do not think that the statute adopted this week will necessarily be the final version. What this vote does, though, is hopefully force the Council to finally do something on this issue," he said.

UK Liberal Diana Wallis commented: "It is simply another attempt to sabotage this issue and kill off the reform process. Ministers from EU member states will have no choice but to throw out these proposals in their entirety and we will be back to square one."

Greens-EFA member Neil MacCormick echoed Wallis' concerns: "It will be a disaster if the EU fails to agree a statute during the lifetime of this Parliament."

Gary Titley, leader of the delegation of UK Socialist MEPs, warned that Cox had a "mountain to climb" in selling the package to member states.

The Greek European affairs minister, Tassos Giannitsis, said his country had hoped to find an agreement on the statute by the end of the Greek presidency on 30 June, but said he was disappointed this would not now be possible.

In a statement, the European Commission described the adoption of the statute as "an important step forward", adding that it hoped there would be no further obstacles to it coming into effect.

However, the EU executive also pointed out that it will entail "significant additional costs for the Union's budget", as under the statute, the MEPs would be paid from the EU budget, and no longer by their respective member states.

MEPs voted on 4 June 2003 to approve a statute setting out their expenses, tax status, immunity and pensions.