UPDATE: We now have the text of the resolution, which - as Bruno Waterfield suggested - boils down to a demand that MEPs pay contractors via accountants. This means that because some MEPs simply can’t be trusted to play the game, they need to be overseen by somebody else who can be. I imagine the theory is that accountants are closer within reach of the law and professional transparency standards and can be collared more easily if things look wrong.
The other thing is that MEPs would no longer be allowed to employ people in their families, something which will piss off the Brits.
These demands simply highlight the extraordinary situation MEPs enjoy. Those in the private sector would be amazed if they knew what goes on.
=== Original post:
I’m playing catch-up here, as I missed Bruno Waterfield’s Telegraph report of an oral resolution Parliament’s budgetary control committee passed on Wednesday night.
In essence:
“Euro-MPS are to be banned from employing their relatives or paying family-owned companies staff allowances in a reform of their £125 million annual expenses.”
The comments to Bruno’s piece evidence a certain scepticism.
I’m trying to get hold of a copy of the resolution.