MEP Obligations
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:
Duties which an MEP is required to fulfil in their tenure, including, but not limited to:
- Minimum required attendance in the EU Parliament sessions.
- Work they must complete while in office, i.e. is there a requirement for the number of committees/projects they must be involved in?
- Declarations of conflicts in role, e.g. being an MEP and leader of a political party within an EU country at the same time.
To underline my reasons for asking - I am looking at what an MEP is required to do to show they are fulfilling the role to which they have been elected and are there any thresholds which, if not reached, indicate that an MEP is not deemed to be meeting their commitments as an elected representative of their respective country.
Yours faithfully,
Lee Wilkinson
OUR REF A(2017)2940
Dear Mr Wilkinson,
On 7 March 2017 2017 the European Parliament received your request for
information on MEP obligations.
We have forwarded your request to the appropriate service for response.
You will receive an answer from Parliament in due time.
Kind regards,
TRANSPARENCY UNIT
European Parliament
Directorate-General for the Presidency
Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[1][email address]
[2]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb
A(2017)02940
SC/mla
Dear Mr Wilkinson,
The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament has been asked to
reply to your request for information concerning the duties of Members of
the European Parliament (MEPs).
We would inform you that there is no required attendance in the European
Parliament sessions. The MEPs receive an allowance of €306 per day to
cover all other expenses incurred during parliamentary activity periods,
on condition that they prove their attendance by signing one of the
official registers made available for that purpose. If a Member is present
but does not take part in more than half of the roll-call votes on voting
days in plenary, the allowance is halved.
MEPs also receive a general expenditure allowance to cover expenditures
such as office management costs. This allowance is halved in the case of
MEPs who, without due justification, do not attend half the number of
plenary sittings in one parliamentary year.
Likewise, there is no requirement for the number of committees/projects
that MEPs should be involved in.
Pursuant to Article 4 of the [1]Code of Conduct for Members of the
European Parliament with respect to financial interests and conflicts of
interest, each Member is personally responsible for submitting a
declaration of financial interests by the end of the first part-time
session after the European elections, or within 30 days of taking up
office with the Parliament in the course of the parliamentary term.
Besides, Members shall rectify their declaration by the end of the month
following each change occurring. The declaration of financial interests
(and, when relevant, subsequent revised versions thereof) are published on
Europarl website, on each Member's personal webpage (see icon
‘declarations’).
Pursuant to Article 3 of the Code of Conduct, any Member who finds that
he/she has a conflict of interest shall immediately take the necessary
steps to resolve it. If the Member is unable to do so, he/she shall report
this conflict to the President in writing, pursuant to Article 3(2) of the
Code of Conduct. Besides, the Member concerned shall disclose, before
speaking or voting in plenary or in one of Parliament's bodies (e.g.
committees, delegations), or if proposed as a rapporteur, any actual or
potential conflict of interest in relation to the matter under
consideration, if this conflict is not already evident from his/her
declaration of financial interests, pursuant to Article 3(3) of the Code
of Conduct.
As far as conflicts of interest are concerned, it is up to each Member to
ponder whether a certain situation may cause a conflict of interests.
Being an MEP and leader of a political party within an EU country at the
same time is not considered to be a cause for a conflict of interest.
Further information is available in the [2]Rules of Procedure of the
European Parliament, as well as their code of conduct. The [3]About MEPs
webpage also provides useful facts and links.
We thank you for contacting the European Parliament.
Yours sincerely,
Citizens' Enquiries Unit
[4]www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP/en
Disclaimer: Please note that the information given by the Citizens'
Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament is not legally binding.
Please also note that this email box is used for sending emails only.
Incoming emails are not treated. If you wish to contact the Citizens'
Enquiries Unit, please use our [5]webform.
References
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