Staes report
EPP and Social democrats vote against more control of Parliament's expenses
The Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament today voted on the Report of Green MEP Bart Staes on the budgetary discharge for the year 2008 for the European parliament. Commenting on the result of the vote, Bart Staes said:
"I drafted this report as a positive approach to give Parliamentary authorities all the necessary tools to ensure that in 2014, when the next European elections are due, no big or small scandal will tarnish once again the image of this House. I thought I had broad support for these proposals to ensure transparency, correct transactions, and sound financial management of Parliament's expenses. But no less than 202 amendments were tabled, most of them with the aim of deleting the most critical parts of this report.
In fact, nearly 30 paragraphs have been deleted, most of them giving the General Secretary better tools for the financial management of Parliament. Also gone are the proposals for a more transparent procurement policy, gone is the ban on using taxpayer's money to cover a 121 million euro hole in the MEP's voluntary pension fund.
Today I've been defeated by the Grand Coalition of the two big groups, EPP and Social democrats. There is a new suffocating atmosphere in this House, with the two big groups dividing up everything between them. Understandably they want to do it with the least transparency possible which is also true of their deal to switch the parliament's presidency from the EPP's Buzek to the Social democrat Schulz in 2012.
All the smaller groups - Liberals, GUE and ECR, however, today supported my approach. Hence, we will draft together some key amendments for the plenary vote in April to restore the core proposals of my report and we will put them to nominal vote. MEPs, who don't want to ensure the proper use of taxpayers' money, should let the European citizens know this.
