Duff calls for court action on MEPs’ statute

By Martin Banks

Date: 29/01/04

THE European Parliament is being urged to take legal action against the Council of Ministers over the failure to reach a deal this week on an MEPs' statute.

Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff has written to Parliament's President Pat Cox to call for the assembly to launch proceedings against the Council in the European Court of Justice.

Duff, a constitutional expert, said: "The Council's continuing failure to take a decision on the members' statute is a grave affront to the Parliament which has acted in good faith.

"The statute is a key element in the development of the Union. Because the position of MEPs from accession states will be intolerable in Parliament unless the statute is in force, the matter of its resolution is now extremely urgent.

"Parliament should use every tool to bring pressure on governments to carry out their side of the bargain. The Irish presidency has another chance to push the matter to a decision and legal proceedings will encourage action."

Socialist group leader Enrique Barón Crespo, meanwhile, has asked the four member states who voted against the statute to publicly explain their reasons for doing so.

"They [Germany, Austria, France and Sweden] owe us an explanation. Governments have the right to take any position they want but these four also have an obligation to explain their actions."

Under the rejected proposals, Parliament's 626 MEPs - 732 after enlargement - would have received a monthly salary of around €8,500, in return for cleaning up the expenses regime.

Many fear the decision means the current system will be left unchanged ahead of the June polls and result in greater voter apathy. In the 1999 elections, less than 50% of Europeans bothered to vote.

The European Parliament is urged by Andrew Duff, MEP, to take court action against the Council of Ministers over the failure to reach a deal on a MEPs' Statute.