Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-22-Speech-3-110"
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"en.20050622.14.3-110"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, although there is unanimity within my group on the need for a Members’ Statute, there are also – as of course in any group – very divergent ideas about what precise shape it should take. This is one reason why not all the members of my group will be voting the same way.
Our demand – backed up by amendments to the Rothley report – had always been that the amount reimbursed in respect of travel costs should correspond to the expenses actually incurred, transparency being the primary consideration. Any reimbursement over and above the actual costs is not acceptable. I might add that the possibility exists already of repaying excessive travel expenses, and that the German Members, for example, have already undertaken to do so.
Turning to the pension fund, there are differences of opinion among us concerning the proportion of the MEP’s share in contributions as opposed to the share payable by Parliament, but we do, in any case, endorse the basic principle according to which Members of this House – in the same way as other citizens – must contribute to the social security systems and bear their share of funding the pension scheme, even though we are aware that this is a pension fund rather than a system founded upon solidarity.
The same applies to contributions to accident insurance. In our debates, we should never lose sight of the fact that one reason why MEPs need to make contributions is that it is the taxpayer who pays our salaries. We are all advocates of equal pay for equal work. It is unacceptable that the incomes of MEPs from different countries should differ by as much as EUR 11 000, and that is why it is right that a uniform salary should be brought in. As for how much this should amount to, we could of course have some really good arguments about that. It also goes without saying that MEPs in receipt of a uniform salary should also be taxed on a uniform basis, namely in accordance with European tax law.
If the Member States go further and decide that they want also to levy the difference between the European and national tax rate, then they are perfectly entitled to do so, provided that this does not result in double taxation."@en1
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