Euro MPs delay plans for expenses reform

Date: 28/11/1996

By Rory Watson

THE European Parliament handed its critics further ammunition this week when its most senior members shied away from instigating changes to the generous system of allowances enjoyed by MEPs.

Despite recent public criticism over the way members' travel and accommodation expenses are handled, parliamentary vice-presidents yesterday (27 November) postponed any reform of the scheme until February.

The decision was a set-back for out-going President Klaus Hänsch, who tabled a list of specific proposals to improve the management and transparency of the present arrangements.

“It was generally felt that it would be unfair to the new president and the new members of the bureau, who will be elected in January, to take any decision now,” stated one parliamentary source.

This explanation for the delay is unlikely to appease the Parliament's critics, especially since the institution's tradition of continuity will probably result in a majority of the existing vice-presidents being re-elected to their posts in the bureau in the new year. But the procedural ploy reflects deep-rooted hostility among many MEPs to changing a system which is tacitly seen as a way of bringing up the salaries of the lowest-paid members nearer to those of the higher paid.

Defenders of the present regime rule out any reform without a prior agreement by EU governments on a proper statute for all 626 MEPs. This would ensure that all were treated equally, with similar salaries and employment conditions.

Under the current system, members' salaries are pegged to those of their national parliamentarians. As a result, some are three times better off than other, less fortunate colleagues.

Hänsch has always supported a single statute for MEPs. But the idea is firmly opposed by member states which believe it is politically unacceptable to have wide differences between the salaries of elected representatives in national and European parliaments.

The president argued unsuccessfully that delays in approving such a statute should not deter the Parliament from continuing to build on reforms already introduced to improve the efficiency of its operations.

To prevent abuses of travel expenses, Hänsch proposed that members should in future produce their boarding cards after each air journey, before being reimbursed for the cost of a business class ticket. Such proof is currently not required. He also proposed changes to the daily subsistence allowance to link it more closely to the full range of permanent parliamentary duties, rather than it being solely tied to attending specific committee or group meetings.

In particular, Hänsch suggested that members would only be eligible for the daily allowance on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays of plenary sessions in Strasbourg and Brussels if they took part in roll-call votes. On Mondays and Fridays, they would only have to sign the register as at present.

Although his proposals came in for criticism, Hänsch's four-page paper will serve as the starting point for discussions in the working group which the new bureau has been urged to establish early next year.