EU parliament expense review branded 'too little, too late'

A planned review of the system for paying MEP assistants has been branded ‘too little, too late'.

The comments, by UK eurosceptic Nigel Farage, come after parliament’s group leaders voted to recommend a shake-up of the system for members’ assistants.

The issue recently hit the headlines following parliament’s decision to withhold publication of an internal auditor report which is said to contain allegations of widespread abuse of the system.

At its meeting last Thursday, the conference of presidents,or group leaders, unanimously approved a proposal by the assembly’s president Hans-Gert Pöttering to recommend a review of the system.

Its recommendation to the assembly's bureau urges parliament’s secretary general to “ensure the consistent application and implementation” of  rules on the reimbursement of parliamentary assistance expenses.

It also asks the secretary general to contact the commission and council, with the aim of “securing the possibility of a new set of rules for members' assistants  through an amended contract staff regime.”

Finally, it charges its working party on the member's statute, chaired by Martine Roure, a French Socialist deputy and vice president, to assess “as a matter of urgency the existing rules in detail, and given the importance of the matter, to come forward with proposals for changes to the rules which it considers necessary.”
 
The move, however, was condemned by Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, who said it was “too little, too late.

He added, “This does not address the fundamental problem which is the auditor’s report, which remains secret and contains alleged large-scale abuse of this system.

“What parliament is doing is sweeping the matter under the carpet and recommending changes to the system of paying assistants, changes which were going to happen anyway next year. It is not good enough.”

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