Warning of a cut too far

Date: 05/06/1997

The European Parliament's staff unions are warning of huge increases in the cost of food and drink if axe-wielding Euro MP John Tomlinson gets his hands on the budget for restaurants and canteens.

They are furious that the man they see as the party pooper from the budgets committee has called for 1.2 million ecu in the cash-for-snacks Euro-account to be frozen, while ways are found to increase efficiency and make savings.

A furious personalised poster campaign has now been launched by the staff unions, which are warning that they will “use every weapon to stop this mindless and utterly scandalous attempt against our social policy”. Powerful stuff, raising the question of whether the unions' over-zealous defence of subsidies is connected to the need to win votes in the current staff elections.

The budget committee's argument for the cuts is that the public finds it hard to understand why MEPs and parliamentary staff should have subsidised meals.

For the record, you can get a meal in a Parliament canteen in Brussels for 3.6 ecu, but the unions say this will rise to 4.7 ecu if the budget axe falls and to 5.5 ecu in Luxembourg, where the canteens enjoy higher subsidies.