Brussels, 23/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The president of the association for the assistants of MEPs, Jacques Loyaux, presented before a handful of MEPs (who were not all members of the EP Committee on Petitions) a petition signed by 1300 persons in favour of a common European statute for parliamentary assistants who provide logistical support for members of the European Parliament. He recalled that 110 MEPs had signed the petition that received the support of 360 assistants but which also benefited from a very large show of solidarity on the part of the officials of the institution.
Speaking of the three main concerns expressed by assistants, Mr Loyaux first of all recalled that they are kept in a sort of "clandestine" situation. This takes on two aspects: 1) As there is no public register, it remains impossible to identify the assistants and to know where and for whom they are working; 2) A certain number of them are subject to the social and taxation regimes of their countries of origin and forced to live in Belgium where they are in a totally unlawful situation under Belgian law but also under Community employment regulations. Mr Loyaux recalled that 15% of the assistants still do not have a work contract or social protection. Not all assistants have insurance against accidents at work or unemployment benefits if they lose their jobs. And the legislation on working hours is totally ignored. Mr Loyaux went on to affirm: "If the European Parliament wants to bring citizens closer to the European institutions, we believe that the time of misappropriation of funds practised by certain MEPs, whether for their personal enrichment or the financial support of their political parties, should now be past. The conditions for employing assistants depend on this. But, above all, the credibility of policies and of democracy should no longer suffer because of this".
The reference to unlawful practices was not to the taste of all MEPs present. The chairman of the Committee on Petitions, Vitaliano Gemelli (Cristiani democratici uniti), hastened to deny all existence of such practices, reproaching Mr Loyaux of exaggerating, including in his presentation of the social conditions of assistants. He called on him to have confidence in the parliamentarians. EP Vice President Gérard Onesta (French Green member) insisted on the fact that any improvement to transparency in working relations between the MEPs and their assistants would be in the interest of MEPs and of the institution alike. Luciana Sbarbati (Partito repubblicano italiano) admitted that there were indeed problems and the need to establish a more specific legal framework, but she once more stressed the tricky issue of the qualification and recruitment of assistants. Quaestor Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (German Christian Democrat) felt that a statute is needed and that the reform which, from 1 January 2001, makes it compulsory to present a work contract and a certificate attesting to social protection coverage is sufficient.