On Monday 10 July, the Bureau of the European Parliament expressed its political support for a set of internal measures aimed at better combating harassment within the institution.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola and her vice-presidents approved the introduction of compulsory anti-harassment training, the creation of a mediation service and the revision of the Advisory Committee’s complaints procedure.
Compulsory training
From spring 2024, MEPs will have to undergo compulsory training on how to “create a good and well-functioning team”. This will cover everything from the recruitment of assistants to early conflict resolution and harassment prevention.
While currently only a third of MEPs have taken part in anti-harassment training (see EUROPE 13080/18), making it compulsory was one of the central demands of the Parliament resolution voted in June (see EUROPE 13192/8).
Mediation service
In addition, the European Parliament will now have a new mediation service. It will help MEPs and staff to resolve “difficult relational situations” and “maintain a positive working environment” where “conflicts are prevented or solved at an early stage”.
The mediation service will act independently and confidentially and may be made use of on a voluntary basis.
Revision of the Advisory Committee
The Bureau also agreed to revise the rules governing the Advisory Committee, which is responsible for dealing with harassment complaints against an MEP.
These changes, the European Parliament explains, will be aimed in particular at shortening procedures in the event of a complaint and providing better protection for complainants. In addition, the committee will adopt a new restricted hearing format for sensitive situations, such as complaints of sexual harassment. Complainants and Members concerned will be obliged to cooperate with the mediation service.
Finally, the Bureau supported the principle of introducing the amicable termination of contracts between Members and their parliamentary assistants.
A first step?
These measures will be finalised and incorporated into the internal rules by the European Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO).
Ahead of the Bureau meeting, eight vice-presidents had invited Ms Metsola to support more ambitious measures. In a letter seen by EUROPE, they propose, among other things, to publish the list of training course participants and to penalise those who do not attend, to merge the mediation service and the Advisory Committee, and to better monitor and evaluate the harassment situation within the Parliament. Although they have not yet been adopted, according to our information, these actions will be analysed at future meetings.
On 10 July, the MeTooEP movement also published statistics on harassment in the Parliament. They reveal that more than half of the institution’s employees who took part in the survey say they have experienced some form of harassment at work. Of the 423 respondents who said this, 164 said that no action had been taken and 39 said that they had been asked to leave the Parliament. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)