By Nicola Smith - 21st January 2004
MEPs are to attempt a last minute deal to salvage a new pay and perks regime before the June European elections.
The new system agreed by MEPs in December to introduce a common salary along with expenses reimbursed at cost is in danger of collapsing under strong German pressure.
Before going ahead the so-called ‘members statute’ must receive unanimous approval from EU capitals but Germany has threatened to veto the hard-fought proposal at a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday.
Berlin, which is currently pushing through harsh domestic social reforms, has protested that the cost hike incurred by paying MEPs more would be unjustifiable to German taxpayers in the run-up to the elections.
But in a letter to Irish foreign minister Brian Cowen, the MEP in charge of the members statute dossier Willi Rothley has proposed removing the controversial question of tax from the final package to bypass the problem.
Subtracting tax from the equation would remove the obligation for unanimity, allowing a majority of EU governments to push through the reforms without Germany’s approval.
“I would clearly favour the solution of removing any provision of fiscal nature from the members statute in order to allow the Council to deliberate by a qualified majority,” writes Rothley.
According to the German Socialist MEP, the absence of any fiscal provision in the package would automatically mean only national taxation would apply to parliamentarians.
Rothley warned that EU foreign ministers on Monday were facing their last chance to reform the much-criticised system.
“If it falls through then it will not be possible to adopt it before the election. After the enlargement of the EU then you can forget it,” he told EUpolitix.
An overhaul of the lucrative pay and perks regime has confounded parliament reformers since the 1960s.
The new deal would give many MEPs a generous pay rise to €8,600 per month but it would be combined with an expenses system based on actual costs and backed up by receipts.
The existing expenses regime, often criticised for being untransparent and open to abuse, was originally conceived to close the huge gap in salaries between MEPs from different countries.
Currently MEPs earn the same as their national parliamentarians, awarding the highest paid Italian members with almost €12,000 per month, four times the wage of their Spanish counterparts.
With the enlargement of the EU to 25 members, the divergence of salaries would reach new extremes, with Hungarian MEPs walking away with just €800 per month.
Although many member states concede that the new system is not ideal, Germany is the only country to fiercely oppose it.
Berlin has protested that the funding of the regime lacks clarity, arguing that it could cost German taxpayers an additional €82 – 100 million annually.
While one parliamentary expert admitted that it could cost Germany, the largest contributor to the EU budget, several million euro more, many are optimistic that a deal can still be found.
Parliament spokesman David Harley recently urged EU leaders to keep the issue in proportion. “This is a fair deal with equal pay for equal work,” he said.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.