Europarlementariërs plaatsen veel vraagtekens bij nieuwe salarismethodiek (en) - Main contents

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has moved a step closer to a new deal on pay and working conditions for MEPs, but some Dutch and Austrian delegates believe the so-called members' statute remains flawed.

Under a new resolution passed by the European Parliament's legal committee on Wednesday (15 June), member states would pay MEPs a single rate of €7,000 a month, while the EU would provide around €1,600 a month for a non-contributory pension scheme.

Members would also be reimbursed for real expenses rather than receiving a flat fee that allows delegates to claim back first class airplane seats while flying economy.

The new rules are set to come into force in June 2009, if approved by the parliament's mini-plenary session next week as well as by member states under the outgoing Luxembourg EU presidency.

Nervous atmosphere

But the legal committee's vote was taken in a nervous atmosphere that did not bode well for the future debate.

The meeting was marked by a squabble over non-committee members' voting rights, as well as fears that even tiny changes to the wording of the text might provoke member states to bin the deal.

Some MEPs also voiced discomfort about the non-contributory nature of the pensions provisions.

"It's normal to contribute to your pension, my constituents do this, so it's very difficult for me to explain to them why I don't contribute", Dutch socialist member Edith Mastenbroek i said.

"This deal is designed to make the member states look good, while making us look bad", she added.

"I also don't like the [pensions] idea", Italian socialist Nicola Zingaretti indicated. "But all of Europe already thinks we get paid too much, so if I go against this statute, people will say I want even more money".

Italian MEPs currently earn €12,000 a month before tax, compared to just €800 per month for Lithuanian members.

Real package worth more

Meanwhile, non-attached Austrian MEP Hans-Peter Martin pointed out that the real size of the MEPs' package will be over €10,000 a month if you count the €3,700 a month allowance for constituency office and travel costs which are not covered by the new measures.

"Many members don't have a domestic office and don't do much travelling at home", he said.

Mr Martin also noted that, since the €7,000 figure is calculated on the basis of 38.5 percent of the wages of a judge at the European Court of Justice, this is likely to rise to over €8,000 a month by 2009 in tandem with judges' pay hikes.

MEPs brushed aside concerns that the deal, which spells an increase for all but the Italian camp, could annoy the general European public however.

"It might get some media articles at home, but it's already decided by the European Council", Lithuanian socialist member Aloyzas Sakalas explained.

The Lithuanian president reportedly earns just €2,500 a month while a constitutional high court judge currently gets €5,000 a month.

MEPs explained that the statute's transitional arrangements will give the thorny subject of domestic equivalence back to member states, who can opt to keep existing wage levels until 2014 or to impose national levels of income tax rather than the nominal EU rate.

"That's for the member states to worry about", centre-right German member Klaus-Heiner Lehne argued. "If we don't take care of it somehow, we will have this problem [MEPs' pay disparity] endlessly".