World | Other World Stories
Brussels hushes up Euro-MPs' 'criminal abuse' of expenses
A secret European Parliament report has uncovered "extensive, widespread and criminal abuse" by Euro-MPs of staff allowances worth almost £100 milliom a year.
- By Bruno Waterfield/The Telegraph Group Limited
- Published: 01:22 February 22, 2008
Brussels: A secret European Parliament report has uncovered "extensive, widespread and criminal abuse" by Euro-MPs of staff allowances worth almost £100 million (Dh715 million) a year.
Senior Euro-MPs and European Union officials have tried to hush up an internal audit that found severe problems and endemic misuse of funds worth at least £98.4 million a year, more than £125,000 for each of the 785 Euro-MPs.
Such is the extent of the abuse found in a sample group of 167 Euro-MPs that "terrified" parliamentary authorities have shrouded the report in secrecy and security.
Harald Romer, the secretary-general of the European Assembly, was asked late on Monday night by Hans-Gert Pottering, its president, and a group of senior Euro-MPs, to take measures to ensure that there was no "collateral damage" from the report.
"We want reform but we cannot make this report available to the public if we want people to vote in the European elections next year," said a source close to the decision.
Only Euro-MPs on the parliament's budget control committee are allowed to see the report. To do so, they must apply to enter a "secret room", protected by biometric locks and security guards. They may not take notes and must sign a confidentiality agreement.
On Wednesday night, after an emergency meeting of senior officials including Romer and Pottering, triggered by The Daily Telegraph's investigation, a spokesman for the parliament denied a cover-up.
"The document is not secret. It is confidential," he said. "It can be read by Euro-MPs on the budget control committee, in the secret room but not generally. That is not the same as a secret document nobody can read."
The Daily Telegraph has learned that the report does not name specific individuals but has uncovered endemic abuse of staff allowances.
Many Euro-MPs are diverting the office payments, worth £125,000 a year, to "providers", which are supposed to be accountants, professionals or companies delivering administrative services.
But in many cases the whole allowance is paid to a single individual or Euro-MP's member of staff, suspicious payments that are twice as large as the annual £61,820 salary paid to a British Euro-MP.
One source who read the report said: "The abuse is extensive. I felt the police should be reading this. Public finances are being skimmed off and there is every indication this is more widespread than anticipated."
The internal auditor found that some Euro-MPs claiming the allowance had no employees or just one member of staff.
Another source who had also read the report said: "Some service providers simply do not exist. Others are individuals that work for or are dependent on the Euro-MP."
Chris Davies, a British Liberal Democrat Euro-MP on the budget control committee, has complained to the EU's anti-fraud watchdog, OLAF, over the "disgraceful" handling of the report.
He wrote to Romer that the findings "most definitely fall within OLAF's terms of reference", adding: "They are so serious that it should be assumed that criminal proceedings may follow."
OLAF anti-fraud officials have demanded a copy of the report and have warned that they expect the full co-operation of Euro-MPs and the parliamentary authorities.
Jeffrey Titford, a UK Independence Party Euro-MP also on the budget control committee, said: "We were elected to represent the interests of constituents, not to cover up the illegal activities of our colleagues."
More from Other World Stories
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Allies quit ruling coalition in Nepal
Political row could trigger months of street protests and violence
-
Qatar blaze 'started at nursery'
Fire killed 19 including 13 children, at Doha’s main shopping centre
-
Jagan jailed over illegal assets
Andhra Pradesh leader accused of corruption, cheating, conspiracy
