MEP expense reform stymied in internal parliament clash

German centre-right MEP Rainer Wieland, who is leading the working group tasked to figure out how to "clarify and strengthen the existing rules and good practices", told EUobserver that they have come up with two proposals but would not go into details.

However, he said the views of the working group are likely to clash with the parliament's bureau, an internal parliamentary body composed of the president and vice-presidents.

"We have two major lines and are trying to bridge it. My idea is that the majority of the working group is very much different than that in the bureau," he said on Tuesday (27 February).

The bureau is set to discuss the issue mid-March at the launch of the plenary session in Strasbourg, although any change won't likely go into affect until the next legislature.

But Wieland did give some clues into his thinking.

He described himself as "a strong supporter of the lump sum", said it was cost efficient and needed for deputies as part of their "free mandate" to carry out duties.

He also referenced the 1981 Lord Bruce of Donington case where the European Court of Justice appears to validate the lump sums given to MEPs.

The issue has generated controversy given the money is deposited directly into an MEP's personal bank account with no questions asked or receipts demanded.

A group of journalists have since challenged the European parliament in an effort to pry open the expenses in a case currently under review at the European court of justice in Luxembourg.

Germans want German system

Klaus Welle, the parliament's secretary general, came up with a proposal last May on which the working group is now developing its own ideas.

Last week, he told EUobserver complete transparency behind the expense accounts would not make the EU parliament more popular with the general public.

"The one parliament which is providing the most detailed expenditure is the US congress and they are the most unpopular parliament of all," he said.

Welle had proposed, among other things, to place the money into separate accounts for better tracking.

He said the real problem is getting MEPs to match the system with their own national standards.

"The Germans want a German system, the Italians want an Italian system, the French want a French system and the Brits want a British system but they can't have it all because the systems are different," he said.

He said the Germans largely prefer the current system because it means, among other things, that they don't have to explain the changes to their home voters.