An anti-corruption pressure group is calling on the European Parliament to release documents detailing how its members (MEPs) spend monthly expense allowances funded by the European taxpayer.
Journalists from every EU country have brought a case against the European Parliament to the European Court of Justice for their refusal to release documents relating to MEPs’ expenses. Transparency International EU, based in Brussels, says that it supports this initiative and has submitted its own access to documents request for information on MEP allowances.
MEPs can earn more than 30,000 euros a month of allowances to pay for staff and expenses. The journalists claim the Parliament has repeatedly refused to grant requests for information on how MEPs spend their allowances. These allowances, which include office and staff expenses, have been the subject of a number of formal investigations over the years, from the MEP jailed for using office expenses to buy a car and cases of wine to alleged fraud over paying domestic political party staff.
Carl Dolan, Director of Transparency International EU, said: “The European Parliament lags far behind other parliamentary bodies, such as Sweden and the UK, when it comes to the transparency of parliamentary expenses. There are clear risks of fraud involving taxpayer money that even the Parliament’s own internal watchdog has highlighted. The Parliament should be routinely providing information on how these public funds are spent rather than putting obstacles in the way of journalists.”
TI-EU points out that as early as 2008 the European Parliament’s own internal audit report identified high risks in certain allowances, citing the example of a MEP contracting his own company as a service provider.
