AN INTERNAL audit report in the European Parliament has criticised a “recurrent lack of proof” in the system for paying MEPs’ expenses.
Released late last night on foot of a legal action taken by an Irish barrister, Ciarán Toland, the report said there was no documentary proof that services were delivered in return for fees paid.
The report was published after a meeting of the Parliament’s bureau, which oversees its internal affairs. European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek is chairman of the bureau.
The audit, dated January 2008, relates to MEPs’ monthly allowances. The entitlement was €15,222 per MEP in 2006 and the total appropriations under the scheme in 2006 amounted to €136.29 million. This represented 10.3 per cent of the Parliament’s budget. The audit report, written by Robert Galvin, said the absence of requisite statements for funds transferred to the majority of paying agents to manage employment contracts “cannot be properly accounted for”.
Referring both to fees paid to service providers and paying agents, the report said the payments made remained in the nature of advances awaiting regularisation “until the appropriate supporting documents are furnished”.
The release of the report follows a ruling by the general court of the EU yesterday that Mr Toland was entitled to receive it. The ruling was seen as having wide implications for transparency within the EU.
The court had earlier refused access to the report on the grounds it was “a sensitive matter followed with great interest by the media”.
The general court is attached to the European Court of Justice. Its decisions can be appealed to the court of justice.
Mr Toland is a specialist in EU law and a pro-EU activist. He campaigned in favour of the Nice and Lisbon treaties and was a director of the European Movement Ireland for five years.
He wrote in June 2008 to the European Parliament seeking a copy of the internal auditor’s report for 2006, including the report on the parliamentary assistance allowance by Mr Galvin.
This report contained details of abuses in allowances paid to certain MEPs, identifying flaws in the allowance system, and outlined proposals for reform.
