Ahead of a crucial decision that could lead to the granting of public access to MEPs’ financial statements, the European Parliament’s bureau is standing by its opinion that public funds granted to MEPs are already audited internally and outside the institution.
European Parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering wrote to Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros making reference to the parliament’s stand that public scrutiny on MEPs’ allowances is already guaranteed by internal and external audits.
The parliament’s highest officials claim this data should not be made public, since not even other MEPs have access to the personal files and accounts belonging to other MEPs: “As such access is denied to an MEP, it is a fortiori denied to those persons from outside the European Parliament, such as the author of the complaint.”
MaltaToday’s complaint, filed in November 2005, received positive news earlier this year when the European Data Protection Supervisor expressed his agreement with granting this newspaper access to Malta’s MEPs’ accounts.
In his observations, the EU’s privacy chief Peter Hustinx said “it seems obvious that these data must be disclosed”, and that although the case dealt with the personal data of MEPs, “in a transparent and democratic society, the basic consideration must be that the public has a right to be informed about their behaviour. MEPs must be aware of this public interest.”
Last week, MaltaToday presented the Ombudsman with its final observations ahead of the decision.
MaltaToday is claiming that the actions of MEPs, elected democratically by the European citizens, must be held accountable to the people who vote them into office.
MEPs are awarded several grants for the operation of their office and are paid a lot in comparison to most of the people they represent – maybe much less than the people who try to influence them like industry lobbyists and professionals.
“We believe voters are in their right… to know how much their MEPs earn; and how these funds are utilised by their MEPs to achieve what they have achieved…”
“MEPs are amongst Europe’s most senior elected representatives – we believe it is right they are paid good professional rates, but the public also has the right to know just what these are.”
The case has now been ongoing for almost two years.
MaltaToday was denied access to the personal accounts of Malta’s five MEPs by the European Parliament’s secretary-general after a series of reports on the maximum benefits that could be claimed by MEPs through travel allowances, committee allowances, and other paid expense accounts.
In August 2005 the parliament told MaltaToday the information relating to the payments made to MEPs was included in a database, collected for “purely accounting purposes and is neither published nor distributed, except to the auditing bodies or institutions provided for in the rules”.
After being refused in a subsequent request to secretary-general Julian Priestley, in September the newspaper submitted a confirmatory application to the European Parliament, requesting once again the financial statements of the MEPs for 2004 and 2005, challenging the European Parliament’s decision to deny access to the accounts “in the interest of protecting the personal data contained in the documents”.
MaltaToday claimed disclosure would not undermine private interests, and that MEPs had to be accountable towards the European taxpayer who funded the operation of the European Parliament.
After being refused by the European Parliament’s secretariat and the Bureau, which groups the parliament’s presidents and vice-presidents, MaltaToday submitted a complaint to the Office of the European Ombudsman in November 2005.
In general, a Maltese MEP can earn a potential Lm40,000 a year in allowances and salaries, with all expenses paid for their political office. Their salary is the same as that of a Maltese MP, Lm540 (EUR1,257), which is a low salary, but the main allowances derive from travel and committee per diem allowances.
MEPs receive a Brussels/Strasbourg allowance of about EUR262 (Lm112) towards accommodation and subsistence costs, but this is subject to them participating in votes and signing a daily register to indicate their presence for any of the 150 or so working days for attending committee and group meetings and plenary sessions.
MEPs are also reimbursed for weekly travel from Malta by payment for the cost of an open economy ticket plus an allowance for distance travelled, per km covered. The travel arrangements pre-date low cost airfares, which means MEPs can make a substantial tax-free surplus of thousands from the allowances.
They get several other grants – EUR3,500 (Lm1,520) a year for other travel; EUR3,785 in office expenses every month; EUR12,546 (Lm5,385) every month for the employment of their staff; EUR5,000 (Lm2,146) a year for language lessons; and a yearly allocation of EUR35,000 (Lm15,025) for a seminar or conference organised by each MEP.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt

Search: MALTATODAY BUSINESSTODAY WEB Archives

---

NEWS | Wednesday, 15 August 2007

Elderly keep PN ahead in Gozo

Santa Marija – the best beaches in Gozo

Bortex will not hire Chinese workers

Pöttering stands by refusal to grant MaltaToday access

‘Ghost ship’ drops off immigrants, fishermen claim

Marriage breakdowns up by 162 per cent in ten years

Census shows women more literate than men

The new Maltese – 12,112 foreign nationals granted citizenship

French embassy mum as Libya retains nuclear stockpile

Medical brain drain to UK reaches highest levels

14 migrants’ bodies found