Quaestors'
Quarterly2019
Quaestors
Elisabeth Morin-
Andrey Kovatchev
Vladimír Manka
Catherine Bearder
Karol Karski
Chartier
(EPP, BG)
(S&D, SK)
(ALDE, UK)
(ECR, PL)
(EPP, FR)
Editorial of the Chair-in-Office
Dear colleagues,
It has been an honour to chair the Quaestors at a particularly challenging moment
during the final months before the European elections.
I would like to thank all colleagues for their constructive approach, which has enabled
us to address and make progress on many important dossiers in a short time, such as:
enhancing the rules related to intergroups and other unofficial groupings,
including friendship groups;
modernizing and simplifying the central register of attendance;
Karol KARSKI, Chair-in-Office of the
examining matters related to Members’ financial and social entitlements;
Quaestors
improving Members’ working and office conditions in Brussels and Strasbourg.
It remains for me to wish good luck to those of you running for re-election. For those of you leaving the Parliament I wish you all the
very best in this exciting new chapter of your lives.
Improving Members’ working and office conditions
Comprehensive renovation works will be carried out between 15 April and 28 June
2019 in Members’ offices to improve the working environments. Offices in Brussels and
Strasbourg will be thoroughly renovated and the incoming Members will be able to
choose furniture from a catalogue in order to customise their offices according to their
needs. In addition new IT equipment such as mobile devices, IPTV and visio-call
systems will be integrated into the new ergonomic furniture.
Members will receive individual information about the renovation works affecting their
offices and which temporary office will be assigned to them and their staff during the
works.
Members are expected to pack their personal effects and vacate the offices according
to the “floor-move plan” annexed to Notice 5/2019, starting on 15 April 2019. All
Improving working condition
Members must vacate their offices by 28 June 2019 at the latest,
For further detailed practical information please see
Quaestors Notice 5/2019.
Unofficial groupings of Members, including friendship groups
Following the revision of the Rules of Procedure approved by the Plenary on 31
January 2019, revised rules have been adopted with regard to unofficial groupings,
which also include so-called friendship groups.
Members may form or participate in unofficial groupings of Members, including
friendship groups, for the purpose of holding informal exchanges of views on specific
issues across different political groups.
Such unofficial groupings must be transparent in their actions and must not engage in
Unofficial groupings
any activities that might result in confusion with the official Parliament activities. In
addition, only interest representatives registered in the Transparency register may
participate in activities of such unofficial groupings organised on Parliament’s premises.
Members participating in unofficial groupings are required to declare, by the end of the following month, any support, whether in cash
or in kind, which Members have not declared individually in accordance with their obligations under the Code of Conduct for Members
with respect to financial interests and conflicts of interest and the implementing measures thereof. This obligation applies individually to
each Member participating in an unofficial grouping and benefiting from such support.
Declarations must be submitted to the Member’s Administration Unit by email to xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx and the signed
original returned to: Members’ Administration Unit - Rue Wiertz, 60 - PHS 07B019 B - 1047 Brussels. The declaration will be published
on Parliament’s website.
If Members fail to declare such support, this can ultimately lead to the imposing by the President of sanctions pursuant to Rule 166 of
the Rules of Procedure.
For more information please see Quaestors Notice 10/2019.
Automation of the reimbursements of Members’ airfares
Members will no longer have to submit a request for reimbursement or attach boarding
cards for their main and intermediate air journeys under the conditions explained here
below. Parliament’s administration will automatically retrieve proof of the use of the
boarding card and therefore reimburse Members’ airfares much faster and pay duration
and distance allowances and airport journey costs.
For technical reasons, Members will continue to send to the appropriate service a
declaration accompanied by boarding cards, for additional journeys in the Member
State of election.
Automation will apply only to air tickets bought from Parliament’s travel agency, which
are invoiced directly to DG FINS.
This automated system will operate for flights taken from 27 May 2019, except for
flights with low-cost airlines, as they are not connected to the database of the travel
agency systems.
Automation of reimbursement
An application for reimbursement of airport journey costs will be required in the event
that the Member travels either from or to his/her home using an airport other than that identified in accordance with the applicable rules.
A Quaestors’ Notice with detailed information will be sent to Members in due time.
News in Brief
Procedure for returning portable IT equipment
The Parliament has made available to Members portable IT equipment,
comprising a laptop and/or
inter alia
tablet. This equipment, which belongs to the Parliament, must be returned when Members reach the end of
their term of office.
Members who received a laptop and/or tablet are therefore asked to return the equipment to MEP IT
Support (ASP 01E035 in Brussels or in PFL F 1060 in Strasbourg) with all accessories by 28 June 2019. A receipt will be issued upon
receiving the equipment in its entirety.
For security reasons, all data stored on the equipment will be erased. Members may request a backup of their data before returning
the equipment.
If the equipment is not returned by 28 June, the Parliament reserves the right to withhold a payment of Members' individual financial
entitlements by way of compensation, corresponding to the residual market value of the equipment. Members will be informed of the
relevant amount.
Opening hours and means of contact of the One-Stop Shop during the election period
During the election period (from 24 April until 24 May) and the summer holidays (from 29 July until 30
August 2019) the front desk of the One–Stop Shop for Members will be closed. Members will still be able to
contact the service via e-mail, telephone and the intranet site during the official working hours of Parliament:
Monday to Thursday: 8.30 – 17.45 Friday: 8.30 – 13.30.
Opening of the central attendance register during Parliament’s Open Days in 2019
During the Open Days in 2019, participating Members will be able to sign the central attendance register as
follows:
on Saturday, 4 May 2019 in Brussels: in ASP 03H352, from 10.00 to 18.00;
on Thursday, 9 May 2019 in Luxembourg: at the KAD reception, from 11.00 to 18.00;
on Sunday, 19 May 2019 in Strasbourg: in LOW T02050 from 10.00 to 18.00.
For further information
This Newsletter is produced by the Secretariat of the Bureau and Quaestors. For further information on any of the articles in this
edition, please contact one of the Quaestors responsible or the Secretariat at the following address: xxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
Link to the website of the Quaestors
Document Outline