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Matthew Vella
There will be little leeway for Maltese MEPs to keep any form of financial and professional conflict of interest under the carpet, according to the European Parliament’s code of conduct.
Maltese MEPs are not only requested to state their financial interests in declarations before they take up office, but they are also requested to disclose any form of interest orally prior to speaking in Parliament.
This revelation comes at a time when it is heavily rumoured that some Maltese MEPs might be considering setting up consultancy services for lobby groups in Malta.
According to the provision governing transparency and MEPs’ financial interests, before speaking in Parlia-ment, or in one of its bodies, or if proposed as rapporteur, an MEP who has a direct financial interest in the subject under debate has to disclose this interest to the meeting orally.
Although the code of conduct itself does not limit the conflicts of interests which might potentially arise from within the professional and financial interests of Malta’s MEPs, it effectively allows better scrutiny of MEPs’ interests.
The EP’s quaestors are the MEPs responsible to compile the register of members’ professional activities and any other remunerated functions or activities, but also most importantly, any support, financial or in terms of staff or material, additional to that already provided by the EP to the MEP. No gift or benefit can be accepted by MEPs in the performance of their duties.
Malta’s MEPs generally hail from professional backgrounds within the financial and legal arena. They will be in conflict of their code of conduct if they do not disclose any form of professional interest they might have when speaking about subject related to that interest in the European Parliament or any of its committees.
MaltaToday recently reported that Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, had been asked to look into the prospect of having salaries for Malta’s MEPs increased from that of parliamentarian to a minister.
The current monthly wage for Maltese MEPs reflects that of a Maltese MP, which averages EUR1,300 a month. MEPs have complained of being unable to conduct a full-time stint in Brussels with the current salary, one of the lowest for MEPs.
Labour’s head of delegation at the EP, Dr John Attard-Montalto, has expressed his reservation at a salary increase so early in the MEPs’ tenure. He told this newspaper that a salary increase would give a “wrong impression” in such a time when so many sectors of Maltese society are making sacrifices in the current economic scenario.
Malta’s MEPs are also paid EUR260 for every full day of their committee meetings, which average around three days every month. Additionally, they are allocated EUR3,700 in office expenses every month; EUR12,546 every month for the employment of their staff; and a yearly allocation of EUR35,000 for a seminar or conference organised by the MEP.
In January 2004, Germany, France, Austria and Sweden rejected proposals to introduce a single wage scale for all MEPs irrespective of the wages paid by the national parliaments from where they hailed. The proposal suggested MEPs receive a monthly wage of Lm3,802 (EUR9,053) excluding allowances.
As things stand there are huge wage differences between MEPs of different countries. Italian MEPs are the highest paid with a gross monthly salary of Lm5,039 (EUR12,000), while their Spanish counterparts earn Lm1,259 (EUR3,000) per month. The new member States’ MEPs have the lowest wages: Hungarian MEPs are expected to receive a wage of Lm335 (EUR800) per month while Lithuanian deputies can expect to pocket around Lm146 (EUR350) every month.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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