Proof of payments for expenses set to cause split in Parliament

Date: 03/04/03

By Martin Banks

EFFORTS to reform the pay and expenses regime for MEPs provoked new controversy this week when plans emerged that would compel deputies to provide proof of payments for travel.

The current system allows members to claim for full price airfares without providing proof of such expenditure.

It means, for example, that MEPs can claim for the cost of a first-class air ticket even if they travel economy class or on a low-cost airline.

But European Voice has learned that a European Parliamentary working group will recommend that members will, in future, be obliged to produce a travel ticket stating how much they paid.

The four-member group was set up by the Parliament's bureau to look at reform of the notoriously lax expenses regime.

UK Conservative MEP Richard Balfe, a member of the group, described the deal as a "compromise" which he hopes will prove acceptable.

He said: "The new system we are proposing is based on costs.

"Members will have to hand in tickets for the journey they have made and will be reimbursed for what they have paid, no more, no less.

"They will no longer be able to claim for the cost of a first-class ticket if they have only travelled on a budget airline."

Balfe admitted the recommendation could still run into trouble with those members who oppose reform.

"We have tried to hammer out a compromise which will be acceptable to everyone, but I fear our proposals will still be controversial with those members who do no wish to see the system changed," he said.

Reform of the much-criticised expenses system has proved the biggest sticking point in three years of negotiations on a statute for MEPs. Under separate proposals approved by Parliament's legal affairs committee last week, members would be paid the same salary for the first time: half the rate of judges at the European Court of Justice, or about €8,500 per month.

Even this is likely to attract criticism, though, as it means that, for instance, British MEPs will be paid more than their Westminster counterparts.

There are other concessions to the Brussels parliamentarians, too. MEPs would pay tax to the European Community, which operates a sliding scale of rates much lower than those of member states.

The recommendations will be discussed at the 12-15 May plenary session in Strasbourg.

However, the members' statute must be backed by member states if it is to see the light of day.

Finnish centre right deputy Piia-Noora Kauppi predicts the package is unlikely to get the backing of EU leaders.

And UK Socialist Bill Miller echoed Kauppi's scepticism: "The Council must approve the package as a whole and there are aspects of it, such as the level of MEPs' pay, which I do not think it will accept.

"The proposed pay is simply too much and sends out the message that MEPs are more interested in themselves than the public they are supposed to serve."

However, Parliament's President Pat Cox, who has identified a shake-up of pay and expenses as a key issue in the run-up to next year's elections, said the reform plans remained "on course".

Efforts to reform the pay and expenses regime for MEPs provoked new controversy when plans emerged that would compel deputies to provide proof of payments for travel. The current system allows members to claim for full price airfares without providing proof of such expenditure.