General Expenditure Allowance and attendance rates
Dear European Parliament,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
According to Article 31(2)of the Implementing measures for the Statute for Members of the European Parliament (IMMS), Members who are absent on at least 50% of the days fixed by the Bureau for plenary sessions in a given year (counted from 1 September to 31 August), shall reimburse to Parliament 50% of the general expenditure allowance they received for that period.
The Bureau then decided (PV BUR. 14.09.2020) that the sessions impacted by the pandemic should not be counted and thus the calculation of 50% presence should be based only on the sessions of 2019 and the normal sessions in 2020, i.e. only January and February.
I am demanding:
1. Any information or documentation that reveals the number of MEPs whose absence rate was at least 50% between 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020.
2. Any information or documentation that reveals the number of MEPs whose absence rate was at least 50% based only on the sessions of 2019 and the normal sessions in 2020, i.e. only January and February.
3. Any information on how many of those MEPs (whose absence rate was at least 50% based on the sessions of 2019 and the normal sessions in 2020, i.e. only January and February.) had reimbursed to Parliament 50% of the general expenditure allowance they received for that period.
Yours faithfully,
Nikolaj Nielsen
EUobserver
Avenue d'Auderghem / Oudergemlaan 150
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Dear Mr Nielsen,
The European Parliament hereby acknowledges receipt of your application
for public access to documents, which was registered on 13/10/2020.
All requests for public access to documents are treated in compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Regulation, your application will
be handled within 15 working days upon registration of your request.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.
The European Parliament reserves the right to ask for additional
information regarding your identity in order to verify compliance with
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the European Parliament’s implementing
measures.
Your attention is drawn to the fact that you have lodged your application
via the AsktheEU.org website, which is a private website not officially
related to the European Parliament. Therefore, the European Parliament
cannot be held accountable for any technical issues or problems linked to
the use of this system.
In addition, please note that any personal data that you provide by using
AsktheEU.org website may be disclosed to the general public and visible on
this private website. The European Parliament cannot be held responsible
for such disclosure. Should you need to communicate directly to Parliament
any personal data and would like to avoid public disclosure, you may do so
from your private email address by using the following functional mailbox
address: AccesDocs(at)europarl.europa.eu
Kind regards,
[1]cid:image001.png@01D69BF7.F4F36EB0 Brunello de Vita
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[2][European Parliament request email]
[3]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
Dear Mr Nielsen,
I am writing you with regard to your document request registered with the
reference A(2020)11550.
In relation to your access to documents request , no specific existing
document is available. All information has been extracted from the
relevant electronic database used by the competent unit within DG FINS,
also based on the information received from the Directorate for the
Plenary of DG PRES on Member's attendance to plenary sessions. In general,
information on the attendance of Members is duly registered and publicly
available by going through the minutes ("PV") of the respective plenary
sessions (see [1]https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/e...).
Furthermore, on question 1), we inform you that since most of the sessions
in 2020 were held as remote (so-called "hybrid sessions"), this question
cannot be replied in absolute terms. Moreover, in September the Bureau
decided an exceptional derogation to Article 31(2) and (3) IMMS by which
months March to August 2020 will not be counted for the recovery, with no
need to request an excuse from the President via the Quaestors.
On questions 2) and 3), only one Member's absence rate was at least 50%
during the mentioned period (i.e., "the sessions in 2019 and the normal
sessions in 2020"). The reimbursement procedure is currently ongoing.
We hope that this reply can meet your demands.
In view of the forgoing, European Parliament considers your application as
handled and closes the file.
Kind regards
[2]cid:image001.png@01D69BF7.F4F36EB0 TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the
Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional
Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[3][European Parliament request email]
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
References
Visible links
1. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/e...
3. mailto:[European Parliament request email]
4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb