Rowdy MEPs to face zero tolerance

By Martin Banks

Date: 07/07/05

THE European Parliament is to introduce tougher disciplinary measures against MEPs who misbehave during plenary sessions.

A "zero tolerance" approach for unruly and rowdy behaviour is being considered, making it easier to expel MEPs from the chamber and cut off their attendance allowance.

The issue of what many see as declining standards of behaviour by MEPs was again highlighted this week when two Italian members had to be escorted from the Parliament's hemicycle in Strasbourg following a noisy demonstration during the visit of the Italian President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

On Tuesday (5 July), Mario Borghezio and Matteo Salvini, both of the Independence/ Democracy (ID) group, protested loudly during the Italian president's speech when he was expressing support for the euro currency. The two MEPs' party, the Northern League, is calling for a referendum in Italy on the possible reintroduction of the lira. They refused repeated requests from the Parliament's President Josep Borrell to be quiet.

Eventually, Borrell asked ushers and security guards to remove the two members from the chamber.

After they were taken out of the chamber, the pair continued their protest by sitting on one of the bridges outside the hemicycle. They chanted "Bossi, Bossi", in support of their leader, Umberto Bossi, who this week had his national parliamentary immunity lifted, at the request of a prosecutor in Milan.

On Wednesday, Alessandra Mussolini, an independent Italian MEP, was cut off by Borrell who ruled her intervention unjustified. She then unfurled an Italian flag and swept from the chamber.

Similar protests have been made in recent months, notably by some Polish MEPs and other members of the ID group, which Parliamentary leaders fear could bring the assembly into disrepute.

New rules will be put before the constitutional affairs committee in the autumn, said a spokesperson for the Parliament.

It is believed these will include a proposal to issue offending MEPs with just one warning at present, it is three before they can be expelled from the hemicycle.

MEPs can, at present, be suspended for two to five days for misbehaviour or for creating a disturbance during plenary proceedings but Parliament could be asked to consider extending the period of suspension for up to ten days.

This could involve the partial or full loss of a member's daily allowance of €262 for the period of suspension, the Parliament spokesperson explained.

"The current rules were drawn up when displays such as we witnessed this week rarely, if ever, took place. But they are becoming more commonplace and many members feel that such behaviour brings the whole Parliament into disrepute," the spokesperson added.

One MEP said: "Standards are certainly declining. The rules already exist to deal with this, though. The problem is that they are simply not being enforced."

The European Parliament announced that new rules were to be put before the Constitutional Affairs Committee in the autumn of 2005 to introduce tougher disciplinary measures against MEPs who misbehave during plenary sessions. This came after a number of incidents in which individual MEPs where showing unruly or rowdy behaviour.

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