Bill for Parliament to soar over 1 billion euro

Date: 10/05/01

By John Shelley

THE price of the European Parliament will rise above €1 billion for the first time next year. Its budget, due to be approved by MEPs next week, is up 4.8% on last year's figure - over twice the increase allowed for by the rate of inflation.

Under EU convention, the assembly is allowed up to one-fifth of the Union's total administration budget. The €1.03-billion forecast takes the Parliament up to the very limit of this figure.

Diplomats say the increase will raise a few eyebrows among member state leaders who already view the Parliament - which costs more per person to run than any other EU institution - as over-priced.

The budget will almost certainly be approved because Europe's elected representatives have a 'gentleman's agreement' with diplomats not to scrutinise each other's spending.

MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg, rapporteur on the Parliament's 2002 budget, strongly defended the increase. "I don't say that we couldn't be more efficient but I do believe that we are trying to be as efficient as possible." she said. "We've really been trying to work out what is realistic and what is not."

The Dutch Green says the extra expenditure is necessary in the run-up to enlargement and that no more is being spent on administration.

The increase will allow the Parliament to speed up its payments for the assembly's first home, the Louise Weiss building in Strasbourg - a move Buitenweg insists will save taxpayers €60 million in interest.

"In future the budgets will be much tighter because of enlargement. By spending this money now, we are helping to make sure that we can stay within our limits in future years," she said.

Buitenweg said the assembly's budget reflected some unavoidable expenses. Unlike the Commission, the institution works in all the EU languages, which means higher translation fees. Travel costs and the bill for maintaining buildings in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg also bump up the price.

The agreement, which protects Parliament's budget from member state scrutiny, had been at risk after MEPs complained about an increase in defence spending by the Council of Ministers.

Deputies had been threatening to refuse a request for an extra €10 million this year to pay for defence staff needed for the launch of the EU's Rapid Reaction Force. But after reaching a compromise, MEPs have agreed to approve the sum in return for greater transparency in the accounts for security and defence spending.

This leaves the gentleman's agreement, in place since the 1970s, intact and clears the way for approval of the Parliament's €1-billion bill.

MEPs are due to approve both their own 2002 budget and the request for the extra €10 million in defence spending when they meet in Strasbourg next week.

The price of the European Parliament will rise above €1 billion for the first time in 2002. Its budget, due to be approved by MEPs, is up 4.8% on the previous year - over twice the increase allowed for by the rate of inflation.