Sunday

28th May 2023

MEP harassment case sheds light on flimsy support for victims

  • Mónica Silvana Gonzalez, socialist Spanish MEP, was sanctioned for harassment of three former assistants. (Photo: European Parliament)
Listen to article

The European Parliament does not rule out mandatory anti-harassment training for MEPs — but has left questions of greater support for victims of bullying and abuse open-ended.

In a statement to EUobserver, it said a group dealing with gender equality and diversity may in the future "introduce mandatory trainings on harassment prevention."

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Some 262 current MEPs have undergone voluntary training sessions as of last December. Of those, 17 were carried out in the previous European Parliament mandate, it said.

The overall figure is likely higher because some MEPs have left, said a parliament spokesperson.

But questions of how many have completed the training but still harassed people, such as assistants, also remains unanswered.

"For privacy reasons, we cannot comment on which trainings the MEPs have taken or not, unless they decide themselves to do so," said a spokesperson.

This comes despite the European Parliament passing a resolution that demanded, among other things, to make public a list of MEPs who participated in anti-harassment trainings.

Last week, Spanish socialist MEP Mónica Silvana González was penalised for bullying three former assistants, a charge she has since denied and is appealing.

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola described González 's conduct as "psychological harassment" and then docked her daily allowance for 30 days [€338 per day] and temporarily suspended her from parliamentary activities.

González still keeps her monthly salary as well as other benefits and her penalty is suspended for duration of the appeal.

The parliament's political leadership, known as the Bureau, will have up to four weeks to deliberate. If it fails to make a decision within that time, then the penalty is considered null and void.

But both the sanction and the 16-months it took to reach a verdict may dissuade other victims of abuse from stepping forward.

Similar issues were highlighted in a 2017 report from an advisory committee dealing with complaints by assistants against MEPs. It noted that the length of time it took to reach a verdict reduced from one year to three months.

It is unclear if the latest 16-month procedure is an anomaly. When pressed, the European Parliament declined to explain. Instead, it says the parliament strives to resolve and prevent conflicts at an early stage.

And it notes that since 2018, a network of confidential counsellors was set up, which is available to staff members who would like to ask for advice and guidance.

But it also declined a request to disclose the latest activity report from the same committee dealing with harassment complaints by staff.

Meanwhile, the blowback is being felt among the victims.

One of the three complainants against González voiced her frustration at the process to Spanish media outlet El Confidencial.

"The small sanction of one month is disproportionate compared to the year, almost two, of my life in which I was destroyed professionally and personally and also damaged my health," she said.

El Confidencial says the assistant had arrived in the summer of 2020 with a one-year contract.

The paper, which has had access to an internal report of the case, says the assistant was given work that did not correspond to her profile or professional duties.

This included babysitting González's daughter and dealing with electricity bills, says the paper.

Sanctions against offending MEPs are also a rarity.

Luxembourg liberal MEP Monica Semedo had her daily allowance docked for 15 days in January 2021, following harassment complaints from her accredited assistants.

The European Parliament had also accused Maria João Rodrigues, a Portuguese socialist, of psychological harassment against her parliamentary assistant in April 2019.

Rodrigues was given a reprimand.

Investigation

EU institution beset by harassment claims

Insiders at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the EU's smallest institution, have described a culture-of-fear environment in the workplace, in the wake of the probationary appointment of its newest secretary-general.

Exclusive

Senior Polish member at EU body faces Belgian abuse probe

A Polish official seeking to become president of the European Economic and Social Committee, a minor EU institution, could face Belgian charges for psychological harassment after the EU's anti-fraud office Olaf alerted authorities.

MEP accused of 'disrespecting' female moderator

Some 100 representatives of civil society organisations, including Transparency International EU and Oxfam, accuse German Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer of disrespecting a moderator because she was a woman of colour and want him reprimanded.

MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024

"This will be the first time a member state that is under the Article 7 procedure will take over the rotating presidency of the council," French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, the key lawmaker on Hungary, warned.

European Parliament scales back luxury MEP pension fund

The European Parliament's Bureau, a political body composed of the president and its vice-presidents, decided to slash payouts from the fund by 50 percent, freeze automatic indexations, and increase the pension age from 65 to 67.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us