Some 20 years ago Andrew Moore, then CBI Brussels business bureau chief, introduced me to the wonders of the MEP’s daily allowance. Sitting quietly at the back of the Strasbourg hemisphere, I watched the unedifying sight of hundreds of MEPs filing in for a few minutes so as to claim their daily allowance. They left as quickly as they arrived, leaving a near-empty chamber echoing to their departing shrills. How the UK prime minister could have suggested an allowance system a la Europe as a response to the British MPs’ expenses debacle is beyond comprehension.
To many of us who love and deal with Europe on a daily basis the financial irregularities of the institutions are more than embarrassing, but we still try to hide them. This blog is far too short to do any more than list a few: the failure to have accounts signed off by the auditors year after year, the refusal of MEPs to reform their own bloated system of allowances, and the endemic abuse of MEP’s assistant payments for decades are just the icing on the cake. The abuse of allowances is legion. Any system that encourages corruption must be changed or ended otherwise it damages the legitimacy of the democratic process. Claiming reimbursement for a first-class fare on a second-class journey is wrong. No more, no less.
For some people, however, the exercise of power without real checks, balances or accountability and truth is the ultimate fraud. In area after area within the EU, grants and allowances are proffered for ill-thought-out schemes where there is no real assessment of their value. “Jobs for the boys” is just too polite for this abuse of power.
Enough of this depressing discussion that demoralises and undermines Europe – let’s turn to social policy. Given the collapse of working time talks last month, readers may have assumed that there would be no further European social legislation for a few months. This would give the new lot (commissioners and MEPs) time to formulate action plans and programmes. I assumed I would be writing an article letting the profession know that there would be “a year of nothing new”. How wrong I was. Step forward the social partners who have trotted in to fill the vacuum (as if we needed any more legislation). So now extended parental leave rights are being debated by employers and trade unions. The proposal raises the minimum entitlement to four months’ leave for parents with children under nine years old, which will have a direct impact upon the UK. European commissioner Vladimir Spidla stated that the proposals would “encourage more parents and hopefully more fathers to take leave and for longer”, while the employers’ spokesperson for Business Europe said that “approval of the agreement would send the right signal about the importance of social dialogue at European level, even in times of crisis”.
After 20 years of Brussels-watching, it is depressing to see that the European institutions are still more concerned with their own internal processes than the economic reality we all face. What about something to really help companies and organisations trying to keep their heads above the water? Do nothing. That’s right; it’s very simple and it would work. No reports, proposals or initiatives; just leave us alone for 12 months.
Oh, and please remember Europe is far too important not to vote on Thursday.