MEPs forced to act after financial abuses revealed

Date published: 11 March 2008

The European Parliament has agreed to seek an urgent revision to the rules governing the payment of staff by MEPs.

The decision follows the leaking by local Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies of a secret report revealing that some MEPs were guilty of flagrant abuse of the existing arrangements.

Rochdale Euro-MP Chris Davies called in the EU's fraud squad last month to investigate the possible misuse of money intended for the payment of private staff by MEPs'. He took the step after reading a secret report prepared by the European Parliament's own auditors into the use of the €140 million funds.

The Liberal Democrat MEP said the findings revealed abuses of a much greater order than those exposed at Westminster. The auditors had uncovered instances where members in some countries could not account for any of the €190,000 paid annually for the employment of staff to help them in their parliamentary work.

In some cases money appeared to have been paid directly to a political party, or for staff who did not appear to exist, or even in one instance to a crèche.

Mr Davies's revelations have gained huge media coverage across Europe, and this week the European Parliament reacted to the pressure by announcing a review of the way MEP staff are paid.

The review includes a proposal for a new set of rules for the employment of MEP assistants, whilst preserving the freedom of Members to recruit their assistants.

It also establishes a working party to assess as a matter of urgency the operation of the existing rules in detail, and to come forward with proposals for changes to the rules.

Chris Davies has welcomed the announcement. He is seeking an annual audit of every MEPs' account and full transparency of staff payments.

He said: "I'm proud of the work done by the European Parliament but angry that its reputation is dragged down by those who put private gain before public service. The abuses must be brought to an end."

The actions of the MEP have been praised by the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Speaking at his party's weekend conference in Liverpool Mr Clegg said that Chris Davies had upset a few people, but he added: "if it's a choice between doing the right thing and having an easy life we must always do the right thing."