By Martin Banks - 28th July 2010
The supervisor specifically recommended the elimination of questions about family illnesses, psychological problems, menstruation and life-style
Cornelia Ernst
Alleged attempts to force MEP assistants to give medical tests have been branded an "absolute disgrace".
Some assistants are said to be so incensed by the instruction they are refusing to comply with it.
However, a parliament spokesman "totally" rejected any suggestion that the tests were unfair, saying "no permanent, temporary or contractual staff have ever objected to the medical questionnaire."
He also pointed out that the European data protection supervisor had approved the text on which the test is based.
The move has come about as part of the new statute for assistants employed by MEPs in parliament. There are thought to be about 3,000 at present.
Under the statute which came into force earlier this year, assistants are afforded improved conditions of employment.
This includes medical cover but, in order to comply with the regulations, assistants are required to complete a medical test.
The tests have been criticised by German GUE deputy Cornelia Ernst who said they were "intrusive".
She contacted parliament's president Jerzy Buzek last December on the issue to seek confirmation as to whether the examination was in line with European data protection law.
The deputy said she was told there were no grounds for complaint but still sought an expert opinion to test the claim that the tests are lawful.
In a statement, Ernst said, "The experts have concluded that, on the one hand, the legal basis for the examination is not clear and on the other hand the selection serving data assessment is inadmissible from a data protection perspective."
Ernst regards the tests as an "infringement of data protection rights".
She also claimed that the European data protection supervisor has voiced his concerns about the "excessiveness" of the tests and the "possible discrimination to which it could lead".
"The supervisor specifically recommended the elimination of questions about family illnesses, psychological problems, menstruation and life-style," said Ernst.
She said MEP assistants want the statute revised so that the clause requiring them to take the tests is removed. They propose that a moratorium be introduced to exempt them from the mandatory examination and that protects them from legal consequences until the statute is revised and the situation clarified.
On Wednesday, a senior parliament spokesman strenuously refuted the allegations, adding that the data protection supervisor had "fully supported" the tests.
In a statement, the spokesman said, "With the special statute for MEPs' assistants as part of the statute for EU civil servants, these assistants have not only gained rights enjoyed by civil servants but also obligations. Thus, before being accepted into employment, they have to undergo a medical test.
"No permanent or temporary or contractual staff have ever objected to the medical questionnaire."
The statement went on, "The medical questionnaire used by parliament has been drawn up by an inter-institutional medical "college" (the medical services of all EU institutions). The purpose of these questionnaires is to establish whether the person concerned is "fit for employment", to "determine the entitlement of benefits in respect of or invalidity or death" and "protect the health of staff".
"The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has approved the current questionnaire for EU civil servants in 2008 and the questionnaire for MEPs' assistants - which is exactly the same - in June 2009, as he saw no reason to believe that parliamentary assistants subject to the staff regulations by analogy should not be subject to the same medical examination as officials and other servants of the EU."
One assistant, who did not wish to be named, described the tests as "an absolute disgrace".
"I think I speak for many assistants in saying that while I have no problem in asking my GP to provide a health assessment I see no reason why I should be compelled to have one done by the parliament," the assistant said.
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