Hervorming vergoeding en contracten van Europarlementariërs en hun assistenten aangenomen (en)

The Bureau of the European Parliament on Monday evening approved a comprehensive proposal put forward by EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering i for reform of the system of MEPs' expense allowances, including clearer rules on the employment of assistants, based on the work of the Parliament's Working Group on the Statute for Members and Assistants, chaired by Vice-President Martine Roure and incorporating a number of decisions adopted by Parliament's plenary in its April discharge resolution.

In March, the Bureau had decided to address weaknesses in the system for recruiting and paying MEPs' assistants. It now proposed that the contracts for assistants working in the Member States would be managed by certified paying agents, specialising in fiscal and social security aspects of employment contracts, who would be responsible for compliance with the relevant national social security and tax provisions.

For Brussels-based assistants, Parliament intends to introduce a regime deriving from the existing contract staff regime which will need to be agreed in detail with the Commission and the Council. These contracts would be administered directly by Parliament's services, while MEPs would retain complete freedom to determine the nature and the duration of the assistants' employment, including the salary to be paid.

The detailed implementation of these new guidelines for the employment of assistants, adopted by the Bureau on Monday evening, will be developed by the high-level working group on the Members' statute, assistants and the pension fund, led by Vice-President Martine Roure.

The Bureau also decided that MEPs could not employ close family members as their assistants.

As before, Parliament's services will audit the accounts annually. Failure to comply with Parliament's internal rules or with national legislation in the case of assistants working in a member state, will lead to suspension of the payments and recovery of the amounts unduly paid.

The Bureau furthermore took a decision on the voluntary and additional pension fund for MEPs, saying that it should be confined to honouring existing rights acquired as at the end of the present legislature in July 2009, but providing for transitional rules for current MEPs. The payment of contributions into the pension fund from the general expenditure allowance, which otherwise remains unchanged, will be discontinued.

The new rules are to enter into force in July 2009 after the European elections, simultaneously with the single statute for MEPs. This statute already provides for new rules on travel expenses, which will only be reimbursed based on actually incurred costs.

In presenting his proposal, President Pöttering referred to the findings of the European Court of Auditors in its annual report on 2006, to the January 2008 report of Parliament's internal auditor and to the resolution on Parliament's discharge over 2006 adopted in April this year.