Brussels, 06/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - The group of high level independent experts, formed on request from the European Parliament to assess an adequate level of remuneration for MEP, has just handed in his report, which will be submitted, Thursday, to the Conference of Political Group. It proposes a high-level of remuneration, added to an effective control of the refunding of costs. The group is made up of Mr. Ersbol, former Secretary General of the Council, Egon Klepsch, former President of the EP, Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister and MEP, Mr. Secchi, former MEP, Mr. Subirats, former eldest member of the Court of Auditors and Lord Williamson, former Secretary General of the European Commission.
The report insists on the transparency of the remuneration system for the MEPs: it is important that all the texts are easily accessible to the public, preferable through the Internet and that anyone may easily understand the working and effects of the system.
As for the remuneration of the MEPs, the group believes that the minimum level should be calculated on the average of the refunds presently paid to MEPs in the four large Member States, or EUR 7420 per month. EUROPE recalls that the report by the German Social Democrat Willi Rothley was referring to an average of indemnities paid by all the Member States, or EUR 5677.22. The group justifies the amount of EUR 7420 the study of the MEPs activities and by the fact that the elected members in the four reference states represent more than half the European Parliament. The report adds that the statute introducing a single salary should foresee an indemnity at a level also remaining appropriate in the future, knowing that the future responsibilities of the Parliament and its role in a widened Europe must be taken into account. On request from certain of its members, the group thus feels that an additional amount of EUR 1000 could be foreseen. In other words, the remuneration should be located between EUR 7420 and EUR 8420 per month, with a yearly update according to the method that applies to Community civil servants. It should be the object of a Community tax, while other possible revenues remain taxed in the Member State of origin.
As for the other indemnities, the group insists that they do not contain any element of remuneration and that they are exclusively based on cost. It puts in this category the daily travel indemnity that is presently set at EUR 240 and is paid for each participation at a day of meetings at an official body. The group notes that the Parliament introduced a mechanism of "negative differentiation" (this indemnity is reduced to 50% for each of the days in a period of plenary session during, which the
MEP was absent for more than half the role call votes. The travel costs indemnity and the annual travel costs indemnity (EUR 3000 per year) will now only be paid on presentation of proof. The indemnity for general costs (EUR 3385) for supplies, postal costs, telephone, etc. will also be the object of strengthened monitoring. The group believes that it will be too late for the Parliament's administration and for the MEPs to check with an invoice the acquisition of a pen and it proposes a compromise: this indemnity should cover a set list of articles, and proof of the correct use of at lest 50% of these credits will have to be provided once a year. The Secretary indemnity (EUR 9765) is presently used to pay assistants. The group hopes that the adoption of an assistant's statute may intervene so that the Parliament directly pays the assistants salaries. While waiting for this, it insists on the need to make accessible to the public a list of assistant and the contract concluded by the MEPs.
The group of high personalities also hopes that the MEPs take part in the future in the financing of their pension regimes.