"Vermeende fraude europarlementariërs is storm in glas water"

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Parliament President Pat Cox has hit back at "tabloid-led" media campaigns alleging that several MEPs are involved in expenses scams.

"I refuse to accept, as President of this Parliament, that we, the elected Members of this House, suffer from some kind of collective guilt. We do not need to be presumed guilty if we do not individually establish our innocence" said Mr Cox defiantly on Wednesday afternoon (31 March).

He picked out German tabloid media for particular attack. His words come after several reports in Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, the Bildzeitung, which picked up Austrian MEP Hans-Peter Martin's accusations about euro-deputies claiming daily expenses without doing any work.

The issue came to a head in the biggest country in the EU when Mr Martin claimed to have evidence that 57 German MEPs were among those claiming expenses falsely - in all he says, he has evidence of 7,200 cases.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Mr Martin produced the names of the 57 MEPs but was unable to back it up with hard evidence of illegally claiming the daily 262 euro allowance.

Mr Cox said "we will respond to all evidence-led and substantial allegations that come to our attention. But, evidence-led it shall be, not prejudice-led".

Report clear on signatures

The Parliament chief said that he had received a report clearing some MPs from new member states who had been anonymously accused of allowing their signatures to be falsified so they can collect the daily allowance.

"The expert concludes that "all 27 signatures submitted to analysis are authentic"."

Similarly he used the argument that daily allowances do not mean that MEPs have to stay in one place all day.

"When you sign that register in this House it is not an obligation to spend the rest of the day seated in the plenary if you sign in the plenary. Nor an obligation to spend the rest of the day seated in your group if you sign in a group".