Indemnités des parlementaires : le médiateur critique l’institution[en][de] 

This week's (14 July) pronouncement by EU Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros relates to Parliament's rejection of a request from a Maltese journalist for information about the allowances paid to five MEPs in 2005. 

Complaining to the Ombudsman, the journalist argued that taxpayers deserve to know how MEPs spend public funds. Diamandouros agreed, saying that the information requested fell under the public's legal right of access to documents. 

Next, Diamandouros asked Parliament last September to guarantee public access to information concerning the funds its members receive for their expenses – a move which was backed by European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx (EurActiv 28/09/07). Parliament responded by putting general information about MEPs' allowances online. 

The Ombudsman's decision follows last week's (9 July) adoption by the Parliament's Bureau of measures to make payments to parliamentary assistants more traceable and transparent when a new MEPs' statute comes into effect after the June 2009 elections, bringing an end to a legal grey area that had lead to multiple abuses (EurActiv 14/07/08). 

The issue rose to prominence in March after Dutch Green MEP Paul van Buitenen made public a confidential committee summary revealing details of payment abuses by members, including one case where an MEP used a service provider to pay out €15,496 of his €15,500 monthly staff allowance to a single assistant (EurActiv 07/03/08). 

EU Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros decided on 14 July that Parliament's continued failure to disclose details of MEPs' allowances constitutes "maladministration". 

But British ALDE MEP Diana Wallis, who is responsible for transparency, yesterday stressed that recently adopted "major reforms" to its allowances system "amount to a substantial increase in transparency and will largely address the spirit of the Ombudsman's remarks". 

Transparency issues rose to prominence recently following last month's resignations by UK Conservative MEPs Giles Chichester and Den Dover following allegations that they broke the European Parliament's rules by making payments to companies linked to family members from their expenses. 

In response, UK Conservative leader David Cameron announced a "deep clean" of "unacceptable" European expenses, launching a new code of conduct for his party's MEPs which requires more detailed disclosure of how they spend their allowances. The new measures, which will only affect Tory members, come into force on September 1 2008. 

Meanwhile, the changes being introduced by Parliament include: 

• The entry into force of a new MEPs' statute after the 2009 elections with a common salary, coupled with a new system for travel expenses based directly on reimbursement of ticket prices. 
• MEPs' assistants employed in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg must be employed within the EU staffing system from after the 2009 elections. 
• No close family members will be given new contracts as assistants with immediate effect, but existing contracts can be extended if this is noted in the member’s declaration of interests. 
• The publication of information on the expenses and allowances of MEPs on the Parliament's website.  

Accordingly, Diamandouros welcomed the Parliament's announcement that it "plans to re-assess its position after the entry into force of the new statute for MEPs in 2009". "But that cannot excuse its failure to comply […] now," he stressed. 

The Ombudsman stressed that his role in the Maltese affair "concerned the principle of transparency and not the principle of financial accountability, which is the responsibility of the budget control authorities". "I maintain my finding of maladministration, but unlike the Court [of First Instance], I have no power to annul Parliament's decision," he added, closing the case. 

Responding to the Ombudsman's latest pronouncement, European Parliament Vice President responsible for transparency Diana Wallis  (ALDE, UK) said "Parliament has noted with interest the comments of the European Ombudsman in his decision on a complaint from a Maltese journalist". "The report comes at a time when major changes to the expenses and allowances system are being introduced," she added. 

Nevertheless, "publishing complete details of individual payment expenses and allowances would breach [Parliament's] duty to protect personal data […] and could compromise the free and independent exercise of the mandate of an MEP," read a European Parliament press release yesterday. 

The changes introduced by the new code of conduct for UK Conservative MEPs "will help to ensure that the delegation of British Conservative MEPs are committed, and seen to be committed, to high standards of propriety in public life," UK Conservative leader David Cameron was quoted by the British press as saying.