20.10.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 283/9

(1)

It is necessary to clarify how Members may use certain of their allowances, such as the parliamentary assistance and the general expenditure allowances. In particular, Members should receive information on what expenses may be defrayed from which allowances.

(2)

Members may use service providers to obtain specific and clearly identified services directly linked to the exercise of their parliamentary mandate. It is necessary to maintain the general rule that such services should not include the provision of staff. However, it should be possible for Members to have recourse to temporary staff — for example, to replace an assistant on short-term sick leave — provided by a temporary work agency.

(3)

For the sake of transparency, the names of Members’ accredited assistants and of the local assistants who have an employment contract with Members should be published on the European Parliament's website, together with the name of the Member whom they assist. It should nonetheless be possible for such persons to request, on the ground of protection of their personal safety, that their name not be published.

(4)

Members’ paying agents in the Member State of election are generally not in a position to act as paying agents for trainees based in Brussels and Strasbourg. It should therefore be made possible for Parliament to assume this responsibility. Furthermore, it is appropriate to remove the possibility for national parliaments to act as paying agents for Members, since this option has not been taken up. These changes should apply from 14 July 2009, as should a series of technical amendments to the provisions relating to paying agents, the application for defrayal of parliamentary assistance expenses and the obligations in connection with an employment contract.

(5)

The Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament (2)‘the Implementing Measures’ lay down a complaints procedure for Members who take the view that the Implementing Measures have been incorrectly applied to them. It is necessary to clarify the procedure, in particular by laying down a time limit and by ensuring that the final decision lies with the body responsible, namely the Bureau,

1.

Article 25 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 25

Entitlement to the allowance

Members shall be entitled to a general expenditure allowance in the form of a lump sum to cover expenses which arise in the course of their parliamentary activities. Members shall not be entitled to use the general expenditure allowance for activities which are covered by other allowances under these Implementing Measures or other Parliament rules, except where they have exhausted the amounts provided by way of those allowances.’;

2.

Article 28 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 28

Expenses covered

1.   The general expenditure allowance is intended to cover expenses such as:

2.   The Bureau shall adopt a non-exhaustive list of the expenses which may be defrayed from the general expenditure allowance.’;

3.

Article 34 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 34

General principles

1.   Members shall make use of:

2.   Several Members may form a grouping in order jointly to employ or to use the services of one or more assistants as referred to in paragraph 1. In this case, the Members concerned shall designate from amongst their number the Member(s) authorised to sign, in the name of and on behalf of the grouping. A declaration that a grouping of Members has been established shall be annexed to the contract concluded individually with the assistant(s) concerned.

In that declaration the Members shall lay down the respective shares to be deducted from the amount provided for in Article 33(4).

3.   Articles 35 to 42 shall not apply to accredited parliamentary assistants.

4.   Expenses incurred in connection with traineeship agreements, established on the basis of the conditions laid down by the Bureau, may also be defrayed.

5.   Without prejudice to paragraph 1, point (b), Members may also make use of service providers in order to obtain specific and clearly identified services directly linked to the exercise of their parliamentary mandate, in accordance with the conditions laid down in this chapter.

6.   The services provided may not include the provision of staff, except for temporary services by service providers who provide such services on a professional and regular basis and are authorised under national law to provide such services.

7.   The Bureau shall adopt a non-exhaustive list of expenses which may be defrayed for the purpose of parliamentary assistance.

8.   The names of the persons referred to in paragraph 1(a) and those of the persons referred to in paragraph 1(b) who have concluded an employment contract with the Member concerned shall, for the duration of the contract, be published on the website of the European Parliament, together with the name of the Member whom they assist.

Those persons may, on the ground of protection of their personal safety, request in writing that their name not be published on the European Parliament's website. The Secretary-General shall decide whether to grant such a request.’;

4.

Article 35 is amended as follows:

5.

In Article 36, paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following:

‘4.   Parliament shall pay the paying agent the amounts due under the contracts, including traineeship agreements, for which he or she is responsible, on submission of the requisite supporting documents.

5.   At the request of the Member, Parliament shall exceptionally pay on his or her behalf net salaries directly to those assistants with whom the Member has concluded an employment contract as well as to trainees. The paying agent shall inform the relevant department without delay of the amounts payable in respect of social security and tax and draw up the salary slips.

5a.   By way of exception to Article 35(1), traineeship agreements which are exempt from taxes, contributions to a national social security scheme and any other charges do not have to be administered by a paying agent, if the Member submits, before the beginning of the traineeship:

6.

In Article 37, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Applications for defrayal of parliamentary assistance expenses pursuant to Article 34(1), point (b), (2), (4) and (5), specifying the beneficiaries and the amounts of the payments to be made, shall be submitted to the relevant department by the Member or by his or her paying agent, and shall be duly countersigned by all the Members concerned and, save in the case provided for in Article 36(5a)(b), by the paying agent. They shall be accompanied by the supporting documents referred to in Article 38 in respect of employment contracts and those referred to in Article 41 in respect of service contracts.’;

7.

In Article 39, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:

‘1.   Paying agents shall, for the period laid down by the applicable national law, and for at least one year from the end of the parliamentary term concerned, keep a pay statement record book itemising sums paid by way of remuneration and tax and social security contributions (as paid by both the employee and the employer). Should a contract with a paying agent be terminated prior to the end of the Member’s term of office, a certified true copy of the aforementioned documents shall be forwarded immediately to the new paying agent of the Member’s choice, as referred to in Article 35(3).

2.   For each of the assistants employed, paying agents shall forward to the relevant department, at the latest by 30 March of the year following the Parliament’s financial year in question and on termination of their contracts, statements of the expenses incurred in respect of salaries, tax deductions and social security contributions and any other defrayable expenses, in particular for the purpose of the regularisation of the advances paid. They shall also certify that all the obligations arising from applicable national law have been met.

These statements shall be drawn up in accordance with Parliament’s specifications.’;

8.

In Article 62, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   Members shall pay back any unused amounts to Parliament except where they are defrayed in the form of a lump sum.’;

9.

Article 72 is replaced by following:

‘Article 72

Complaints

1.   A Member who takes the view that these implementing measures have not been correctly applied to him or her by the competent service may address a written complaint to the Secretary-General.

The decision of the Secretary-General on the complaint shall state the reasons on which it is based.

2.   A Member who does not agree with the decision of the Secretary-General may, within two months after notification of the Secretary-General's decision, request that the matter be referred to the Quaestors, who shall take a decision after consulting the Secretary-General.

3.   If a party to the complaint procedure does not agree with the decision adopted by the Quaestors, he or she may, within two months after notification of that decision, request that the matter be referred to the Bureau, which shall take the final decision.

4.   This Article shall also apply to a Member's legal successor as well as to former Members and their legal successors.’.

(a)

Article 1, points 1, 3 (insofar as it relates to Article 34(7) of the Implementing Measures) and 4 to 8, which shall apply from 14 July 2009;

(b)

Article 1, point 3 (insofar as it relates to Article 34(1) to (6) and (8) of the Implementing Measures), which shall apply from 1 January 2010;

(c)

Article 1, point 2, which shall apply from 1 January 2011.