Parliament is reacting to criticism of its gilded life.  It plans to make changes, but transparency and open government doesn’t seem to be a priority. It will make the minimum reforms it feels it can get away with, and no more.

On Monday, the Bureau of the European Parliament unanimously agreed to a recommendation from the Conference of Presidents of the political groups, based on a proposal by Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering, regarding the system for Members’ assistants.

The Bureau decided to:

  • charge the Secretary General to ensure the consistent application and implementation of the European Parliament’s internal rules on the reimbursement of Parliamentary assistance expenses;
  • entrust the Secretary General with a mandate to make contact with the Commission and Council, with the aim of securing the possibility of a new set of rules for Members’ assistants, through an amended Contract Staff regime, whilst preserving the freedom of Members to recruit their assistants and independently determine their salary levels;
  • charge its working party on the Member’s Statute, Assistants and Pension Fund, chaired by Martine Roure, Vice President, to assess as a matter of urgency the operation of the existing rules in detail, and given the importance of the matter, to come forward with proposals for changes to the rules which it considers necessary.

    • In fact, the simplest and most effective thing they could do is publish details of expenses in a consistent and transparent way.