MEPs set to disclose their family employees

Date: 06/10/05

MEPs would be obliged to state whether they employ family members as assistants under new recommendations being put before the European Parliament next week.

The Parliament's web-site currently lists all assistants accredited to the assembly's 732 MEPs but it is not always clear if they are related to the deputy for whom they work.

Under new proposals drafted by a Parliamentary working group, MEPs would have to disclose whether they employ relatives or partners.

The requirement for members to publish family details is one of several proposals contained in a 12-page report to be considered next Monday (10 October) by Parliament's bureau, consisting of its President, Josep Borrell, and 14 vice-presidents.

French Green MEP Gérard Onesta, who wrote the report, said: "At present, when you look at the website list of assistants it is not always clear whether they are related to an MEP. We are not saying MEPs should be banned from employing relatives but merely that it would be more transparent and open if members state if they employ a relative."

Article reports that the European Parliament's Bureau was to consider a 12-page report on 10 October 2005 proposing that MEPs have to disclose whether they employ relatives or partners.