Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-22-Speech-2-036"
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"en.20080422.4.2-036"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I would like to begin with the discharge by Parliament and by thanking our rapporteur and all Members who wanted to achieve progress on the secretarial assistance allowance, because this point is crucial, in the public’s opinion, and should also form the focus of our observations. It is in the interest of all of us as MEPs to find a way out of this dirty corner of corruption.
The European People’s Party has suggested ways by which the secretarial assistance allowance could be managed more efficiently in future. These proposals were approved by a large majority in the Committee on Budgetary Control, including that the paying agents in the Member States should be notified by Parliament itself and thereby become more professional. These paying agents would then also administer the contracts for services and ensure that taxes are paid and social security contributions are deducted. These amendments protect Parliament’s reputation, as does the point that MEPs should no longer be able to employ family members in future.
Under the rules of the EU, this means a very significant conflict of interests. Therefore, I call upon all Members to avoid further damage to ourselves and to Parliament. I note with concern that the Socialist Group, along with some of the Liberals, wants to vote against this passage of text. If they prevail, it will mean that we complete the discharge process without making any progress in this very important aspect, and that would be the absolute worst case scenario for us all, because a cheery ‘carry on’ will not get us through the latest report by the Court of Auditors on the secretarial assistance allowance.
Also with regard to the Parliamentary assistants’ allowance, which we agreed on together, we want to keep to the view that it is no cure-all. I want to recommend that you all read the fine print. It is all still up in the air, which means that saying at this point that the Parliamentary assistants’ allowance will help us solve every problem is simply a lie – and also a lie to the public.
I would like to say one last thing about the Commission budget. Commissioner, it was certainly close, and I hope that your colleagues have bought you a drink, because you have earned it. Thank you very much for the good cooperation!"@en1
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