MEP calls for end to EU parliament's 'lax' rules

Parliament’s bosses have been urged to change rules which have allowed MEPs to claim nearly €1m in expenses over four years for attending the Friday session during the monthly Strasbourg plenary.

The assembly’s secretary-general Harald Rømer admits there is “no actual session on that day.”

But figures seen by this website reveal that this does not stop a sizeable number of MEPs signing the attendance register on Fridays in the French city, and thereby claiming the daily allowance of €287.

It is widely thought that most, if not all, of these then immediately leave Strasbourg for their member states.

The practice, coined by its detractors as “sign in, sod off”, was branded “immoral” by a parliamentary official who unearthed the figures.

“Even by MEP standards this, as they say, really is taking the biscuit,” said the official, an MEP's assistant, who did not wish to be named.

And UK ALDE deputy Chris Davies, who has long campaigned for more transparency in parliamentary affairs, has called on parliament’s bureau to press for a change in the rules.

“It is parliament’s lax procedures which are at fault and they have to change,” he said.

Initially, Rømer refused to divulge any information at all on the numbers of MEPs who sign the attendance register on Fridays in Strasbourg.

A letter from the Dane, parliament's top civil servant, states that under parliamentary rules “MEPs have the right of an allowance for every free-Friday as long as they are present the evening before in one of the usual places of work to take part in a meeting of one of the official organs of parliament.”

A footnote in the rules goes on to say that MEPs who “for reasons of connections by air or road” cannot get home on Thursday night at  the end of the session, may sign the register and receive a daily allowance.

His letter goes on to explain his refusal to provide information, saying, “Such intrusion would have an impact on the principle according to which representatives exercise their mandate in a free and independent manner.”

Under pressure, parliament, via one of its vice president Diana Wallis, a UK Liberal MEP, has now revealed the number of deputies who have signed the Friday register but, crucially, it does not name them.

Official figures show that the number of MEPs signing the register on Friday in Strasbourg in the 45 sessions since 2004 has averaged about 70.

The amount claimed between 2004 and 2008 is over €850,000.

The daily allowance to which MEPs are entitled has risen from €262 in 2004 to the current €287. It is mainly supposed to cover hotel expenses.

Davies said, “Let’s be clear. In some cases, MEPs are not breaking the rules and some have no option but to stay over on the Thursday in Strasbourg.

"But, equally, everyone knows that parliament is virtually deserted on Friday in Strasbourg.

“Some might say it is unethical to claim the daily allowance but, rather, it is parliament’s lax procedures which are at fault. It would not require much for parliament’s bureau, or vice presidents, to change the rules and, in light of these findings, that is exactly what I am calling on them to do. It is a simple and straight forward reform.

“I believe you should only be able to register your attendance during those hours when parliament is actually sitting, and that does not include the Friday in Strasbourg."

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