Against all odds, the idea of introducing mandatory training for harassment prevention in the European Parliament has not been completely buried. At the extraordinary meeting of the Bureau in early April, the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, undertook to examine the legality of such a measure, which had long been promoted by the #MeTooEP collective, composed of European Parliament workers.
The European Parliament already organises voluntary training on respect and dignity at work, including a module on how to prevent harassment. To date, only 44 MEPs (out of 751) have participated. Following the MeToo scandal, it was decided to make these training courses mandatory for parliamentary assistants and trainees after the European elections. But no changes have been introduced with regard to the MEPs themselves, despite repeated requests from the #MeTooEP collective (see EUROPE 12188/5). Under pressure from the German Conservatives, an amendment to the Corbett report proposing to amend Parliament's Rules of Procedure in this way was even rejected.
However, according to the minutes of the meeting of the Bureau of the European Parliament on 3 April 2019, President Tajani indicated his intention to seek the opinion of Parliament's Legal Service and, if necessary, to consult the Committee on Legal Affairs “in order to determine whether the European Parliament may impose mandatory training on Members and, if so, under what conditions (for example, by a provision of the Rules of Procedure or a revision of the Members' Statute)”.
The controls to the Secretary General of Parliament
This discussion took place in the context of the presentation of the activity report from the Advisory Committee on Harassment Complaints against Members of the European Parliament for the 2014-2019 period. Among its recommendations, in addition to an assessment of the legality of mandatory training, were the following ideas: - the appointment of an ombudsman ; - the idea of combining the two advisory committees – the one for Members and the other for staff – and including independent experts.
According to the minutes of the meeting, Antonio Tajani replied to these requests by stating that “the Secretary General should make suggestions for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the activity report, with a view to improving the European Parliament's handling of harassment situations involving Members”. Minutes: https://bit.ly/2GtGlDW. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)