Commitment to transparency

In March last year, before the European Parliament elections, the Nationalist Party's executive committee adopted a set of rules to ensure higher standards of transparency for Nationalist MEPs. The rules constituted the party's commitment to transparency with the electorate.

The rules stipulate that Nationalist MEPs must annually render public details of the public funds placed at their disposal by the European Parliament. They have an annual deadline of March 31 for doing so.

In line with this deadline, my colleague David Casa and I published the necessary details last week.

The PN transparency commitment rules were not an election stunt. They were adopted in response to a decision by the European Ombudsman - instigated by a Maltese journalist - that had called on the European Parliament to render the system of financial allowances for MEPs more transparent.

Lack of transparency had often attracted the attention of the media that, from time to time, revealed cases of abuse of financial allowances, especially in the UK. In turn, this publicity put all MEPs in a bad light and undermined public trust in the institution. As an MEP, I have always resented the idea that all of us should be tainted because of the shortcomings of the system or the abuse of a few individuals.

However, I do acknowledge that lack of transparency did not help.

In the event, in the aftermath of the decision by the Ombudsman, the European Parliament did improve the system, especially with regard to travelling allowances, and reduced the scope of misuse of funds.

Insofar as publication goes, the European Parliament only requires MEPs to publish a declaration of financial interests on an annual basis listing any offices they hold for remuneration other than their post in the European Parliament. This is published on Parliament's website for each MEP.

The PN rules go much further and impose greater transparency requirements than those imposed by the Parliament. In particular, they require the publication of two additional documents.

The first is a transparency commitment form listing details of all the allowances provided by the European Parliament to the individual MEP. There are four main types of allowances that are made available to MEPs.

The secretarial assistance allowance is a budget of just over €17,500 per month for MEPs to recruit staff. The PN rules require MEPs to stipulate the names and capacities of their staff along with the total amount of funding used to cover their salaries.

The general expenditure allowance is a monthly allocation of €4,200 to cover office management and running costs, office equipment, stationery and the like.

Travelling allowances consist in reimbursement of actual travelling costs incurred by MEPs to travel to and from the working places in Brussels and Strasbourg and also, occasionally, to other countries on parliamentary business. Reimbursement is made against the production of receipts of actual costs. Additionally, MEPs are also paid a distance allowance based on the distance of their travelling.

Finally, MEPs are provided with a daily subsistence allowance for each day during which they are present in the official working places. This is meant to cover expenses relating to hotel and other lodging expenses, living, hospitality and ancillary expenses incurred by MEPs during working days.

The second additional document Nationalist MEPs publish is an auditor's certificate, called certification statement, signed by a qualified auditor certifying that the MEP's accounts have been produced in an appropriate manner and that the funds have been used in compliance with the rules. This ensures that the numbers published in the transparency commitment form are correct.

As I wrote, Mr Casa and I published these documents last week in line with the rules adopted by our party last year. The publication of our financial details is a first in Malta and marks our commitment to a high level of transparency.

I hope this initiative will help lift the veil of secrecy on the use of public funds by MEPs and strengthen public trust in our work.

After all, the more transparent the system, the less likely it is to be abused and the more likely the public is to trust it.

So far, the PN has been the only party to commit itself to this degree of transparency in relation to its MEPs. No other party has done so and we hope we have set an example that will be followed by others.

Readers who wish to access my transparency commitment form and certification statement can visit http://www.simonbusuttil.eu/default.asp?module=content&ID=393 .

Those who would like to ask questions to be answered in this column can send an e-mail, identifying themselves, to contact@simonbusuttil.eu or through www.simonbusuttil.eu.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.