Brussels, 24/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament endorsed a Finnish proposal to increase pay for Europol personnel by 1.5% for the second half of 2006 and first half of 2007. By adopting the advisory report of Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE), MEPs are saying that the proposal is justified, because of the high cost of living in the Netherlands, where the HQ is based, and developments affecting wages in the public sector in member states. In his explanation, the rapporteur, did, however, point out that consulting Parliament on the subject of a document that had financial implications was “not pertinent” because Europol was still an intergovernmental institution funded by each of the member states. This question raised by the MEP is clearly related to the question of Europol's status and its 1998 Constitutive Convention, which only stipulated that an annual activity report should be submitted to the Parliament. Mr Cavada stressed that “in the rule of law, the exercising of police functions should be subject to parliamentary control…as well as the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice and financial and budgetary control, in compliance with the EU's normal provisions on the matter”. Cavada added that MEPs were still criticising the “red tape involved in procedures for amending the Europol Convention that required ratification by member states and which were delaying entry into force of new provisions”. This is why the rapporteur welcomes the proposal made by the Commission last December to adapt Europol's legal basis and make it into a genuine Union agency (EUROPE 9232). Its integration in the EU's institutional framework will allow for it to be funded out of the Community budget and its personnel to obtain EU official status. As Mr Cavada explained, it will only be at this point that “consultation of the European Parliament on the subject of salaries and pay for Europol personnel will make sense and become worthwhile”. (bc)