Plan for cash boost fuels ‘gravy-train’ image

By Martin Banks

Date: 14/10/04

MEMBERS of the European Parliament, already under fire for their generous pay and perks, are in line for a €2,000 per month increase in one of their allowances.

The Parliament's bureau, the inner circle comprising its President Josep Borrell and 14 vice-presidents, is proposing increasing MEPs' secretarial allowance from €12,500 to €14,500 per month.

If approved by the full Parliament, it is expected the increase will come into effect early in the New Year.

The allowance is supposed to be used by deputies to pay for staff working in their Brussels offices and in their home country.

The proposed rise was defended by bureau member Gérard Onesta, a French Green MEP, who said: "The reason we are proposing an increase is because the workload for MEPs has increased significantly since the EU expanded in May. "For example, the number of committees we have to follow has risen from 17 to 20.

"I have four staff, three of them full-time, but it has become clear that I need more support and that inevitably means more expenditure.

"Surely, this is not asking too much, certainly when you compare MEPs with American congressmen who have up to 20 people working for them?"

The UK Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris said: "I obviously have nothing against MEPs' staff being properly paid but I will be voting against this proposed increase."

The proposal would, he said, do nothing to help MEPs shed their gravy-train image.

"Until we can be sure that this allowance is being spent as it is intended to be, I don't think an increase is very wise," he said.

As well as being eligible for a secretarial allowance, deputies currently receive a daily salary of €262 to pay for hotels and food, a 3,500 euro-per-month allowance for office expenses and an annual sum of €3,500 to attend conferences.

"Before we start throwing yet more money at MEPs, Parliament should make sure the system of secretarial allowances is more open and transparent," Heaton-Harris said.

Following a partial reform aimed at stopping abuse, MEPs must now produce contracts of employment for their assistants and tax certificates proving they are paying them the agreed salary.

But the standard contract provided by the Parliament does not stipulate how many hours a week staff are supposed to work.

The contract also omits details of what jobs they are supposed to do. There are no fixed salary levels.

Danish eurosceptic deputy Jens-Peter Bonde called for more open disclosure in the allowance system.

Bonde said: "The secretarial allowance should not go to those MEPs who employ a member of their family on their payroll. "For too many," he added, "it is currently merely a hidden salary for MEPs."

The European Parliament's bureau, the inner circle comprising its President Josep Borrell and 14 vice-presidents, was proposing increasing MEPs' secretarial allowance from € 12,500 to &euro: 14,500 per month.