Open Europe publishes league table of MEPs (EU Press Release)
25 May 2009
With elections to the European Parliament less than two weeks away, Open Europe has today published a ranking of all 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), scoring their record on promoting transparency and reform in the European Union over the last five-year term.
The ranking seeks to answer some of the questions voters may be asking themselves ahead of the European elections.
Open Europe's league table is based on 20 different categories relating to transparency, accountability, democracy, and waste.
Open Europe's Research Director Mats Persson said:
"No matter where their political sympathies may lie, MEPs should all be working for a more open, democratic EU, while trying to reduce the waste of taxpayers' money. These issues should be at the top of their agenda - especially now when the public's trust in politicians is at an all-time low in many countries."
"They might talk a good game at home, but too many MEPs have voted against transparency and EU reform on a number of occasions. What we need now is a new generation of MEPs, committed to acting in the public interest and pushing for a much better deal for taxpayers."
"With elections to the European Parliament just days away, candidates in all countries should be promising voters they will work for real change when they get to Brussels."
To see the league table, please click here:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/mepranking.xls (See sheet two for UK MEPs only)
For a guide to the criteria used in the ranking, please click here:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/rankingguide.pdf
SUMMARY
Open Europe's ranking is based on a range of activities, including voting records, attendance, written declarations, and whether the MEPs themselves have taken part in wasteful activities, such as the controversial second pension fund.
MEPs have been awarded points based on a 'Premier League' model, where 3 points is the highest score, followed by 1 point and 0 points. On attendance, a scale from 1 to 6 was used. A total of 58 points is available for each MEP. In addition, MEPs who have been the subject of substantive press reports of wrong-doing, are given a "red card" in the form of minus 10 points.
The ranking has two main categories: 'Transparency, openness and democracy' and 'Fighting waste and misuse of EU funds'.
KEY FINDINGS:
Top 25 MEPs
Position Name Country Party Points
1 Carl Schlyter Sweden Miljöpartiet 55
2 Hans-Peter Martin Austria Liste PM 53
3 Johannes Blokland Netherlands ChristenUnie-Staatkundig G. 47
3 Jan Mulder Netherlands Volkspartij Voor Vrijheid En D. 47
5 Erik Meijer Netherlands Socialistische Partij 46
5 Nils Lundgren Sweden Junilistan 46
7 Bart Staes Belgium Groen 45
7 Eva Svensson Sweden Vänsterpartiet 45
9 Bastiaan Belder Netherlands ChristenUnie-Staatkundig G. 44
10 Esko Olavi Seppänen Finland Vasemmistoliitto 43
10 Holger Krahmer Germany Freie Demokratische Partei 43
10 J A Hennis-Plasschaert Netherlands Volkspartij Voor Vrijheid En D. 43
10 Dr Caroline Lucas UK Green Party 43
10 Struan Stevenson UK Conservative Party 43
10 Alyn Smith UK Scottish National Party 43
16 Heide Rühle Germany Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 42
16 Diana Wallis UK Liberal Democrats 42
18 Jana Bobosíková Czech Republic Nezavisli 41
18 Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann Germany Partei Des Demokratischen S. 41
18 Kathy Sinnott Ireland Independent 41
18 Josef Kusstatscher Italy Federazione Dei Verdi 41
18 Joost Lagendijk Netherlands Groen Links 41
18 Toine Manders Netherlands Volkspartij Voor Vrijheid En D. 41
18 Inger Segelström Sweden Socialdemokraterna 41
18 Jan Andersson Sweden Socialdemokraterna 41
18 Jim Allister UK Independent 41
Bottom 22 MEPs
Pos Name Country Party Points
785 Roberto Fiore* Italy Forza Nuova 2
783 Ioannis Matsis Cyprus For Europe 3
783 Krzysztof Holowczyc* Poland Civic Platform 3
775 Rapisardo Antinucci Italy Partito Socialista 4
781 Sérgio Marques Portugal Força Portugal 4
781 C. Gutiérrez-Cortines Corral Spain Partido Popular 4
775 Guido Podestà Italy Forza Italia 5
775 Alfredo Antoniozzi Italy Forza Italia 5
775 Giuseppe Gargani Italy Forza Italia 5
775 Giorgio Carollo Italy Forza Italia 5
775 Liene Liepina* Latvia 5
764 Riccardo Ventre Italy Forza Italia 6
764 Antonio Mussa* Italy Alleanza Nazionale 6
764 Graziella Pagano* Italy Partito Democratico 6
764 Elisabetta Gardini* Italy Forza Italia 6
764 Duarte Freitas Portugal Força Portugal 6
764 José Ribeiro E Castro Portugal Partido Popular 6
764 Daniel Petru Funeriu* Romania Partidul Democrat-Liberal 6
764 Pilar del CastilloVera Spain Partido Popular 6
764 Gerardo Galeote Quecedo Spain Partido Popular 6
764 L.F. Herrerro-Tejedor Spain Partido Popular 6
764 Armando Veneto* Italy Alleanza Popolare 6
* Have not been Members of the European Parliament for the whole five-year term.
Country Positions
Country Average score per MEP
1. Sweden 37.1
2. Netherlands 34.4
3. Denmark 31.6
4. UK 30.9
5. Finland 28.7
6. Ireland 27.2
7. Belgium 26.9
8. Czech Republic 26.6
9. Estonia 25.3
10. Austria 25.1
11. Lithuania 24.5
12. Latvia 23.2
13. Germany 22.2
14. Slovenia 21.4
15. Malta 20.4
16. Luxembourg 19.8
17. Poland 19.6
18. France 19.3
19. Portugal 18.7
20. Greece 17.4
21. Slovakia 16.8
22. Hungary 15.9
23. Cyprus 15.7
24. Italy 14.7
25. Spain 14.0
(Bulgaria and Romania are not included in the ranking as they joined only in 2007)
MEPs' RECORDS AT A GLANCE
· While MPs in the UK have come under attack recently for how they spend their allowances, MEPs in Brussels have avoided such criticism by voting to keep information about their expenses secret. In March 2009, almost 70 % of all MEPs voted to keep expenses claims and accounts or financial disciplinary measures, such as demands for MEPs to pay back money back, secret from public requests.
· Although a 2008 report revealed several instances of outright fraud involving MEPs' expenses, no penalties or sanctions have ever been imposed. For example, former Conservative MEP Den Dover has been asked by the Parliament to pay back over £500,000 in "unjustified" allowances, but no deductions have been made from Mr Dover's wages in an effort to regain the funds. Extraordinarily, in 2005, 340 of all MEPs voted against introducing sanctions, including suspension, for any member guilty of gross financial irregularities.
· A proposal tabled in 2005, calling for the European Parliament to "limit the payment of travel allowances to the actual expenses incurred or the lowest published fares" was voted down, by 345 votes to 259. This was despite widespread criticism of the extremely generous travel allowances MEPs enjoy. For instance, a Swedish MEP, Jens Holm, has calculated that between 2006 and 2008 alone, he received €158,708 in travel expenses, noting that the generous system had left him with a tax-free surplus of approximately €70,000 that wasn't spent on travel - money that he gave away to charities.
· Only 9% of the 785 MEPs have responded to a survey by Open Europe asking them to answer six simple questions about whether their expenses are handles in an honest and reputable way. This is despite having each received two further reminders and a telephone call in addition to the initial email.
· 64% of all MEPs voted against respecting the outcome of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - before the referendum had even taken place. Only 16% voted in favour of respecting the will of the Irish people.
· 395 MEPs either take part or have taken part in the European Parliament's highly controversial - and possibly illegal - second pension scheme. The fund is controversial for at least four reasons: The European Court of Auditors has consistently questioned the legality of the scheme; for every 1 euro MEPs contribute to the fund, the taxpayer contributes 2 euro; even worse, MEPs' own contributions come not from their salary, but are taken automatically from their generous office expenses; and under current rules, the scheme's 120 million euro deficit is guaranteed by European taxpayers, via the EU budget, meaning that taxpayers could be required to make up the shortfall caused by the recession.
· MEPs voted this year to close the second pension fund to new contributions, amid a rash of media stories about the possibility of taxpayers having to cover the fund's deficit - however, most of the controversial aspects of the fund remain unaddressed. In April 2005, MEPs voted against a proposal by 351votes to 240 that would have ensured that contributions to MEPs' pension schemes could no longer be paid out of MEPs' allowances, but would instead be paid directly out of MEPs' own pockets. The proposal also stated that a possible future deficit in the scheme should in "no way be covered by the budget of the Parliament" (i.e. additional taxpayers' money). The proposal would also have allowed auditors to oversee the second pension scheme.
· Only 286 MEPs signed a declaration calling for an end to the wasteful and bizarre practice of moving the Parliament between Brussels and Strasbourg every single month. The monthly commute costs taxpayers at least €203m annually, while producing a carbon footprint of around 18,884.5 tonnes a year and is widely criticised by the media and the public.
· On 20 May 2008, MEPs voted for the continuation of farming subsidies to tobacco farmers by 379 votes to 244 and 14 abstentions. The vote means that the EU continues to spend more than 220 million euros of taxpayers' money every year in subsidies to the tobacco industry.
Meanwhile, the EU spends millions each year campaigning against smoking, even running runs its own €72 million anti-smoking campaign, called "Help: For a life without tobacco".
· 563 MEPs voted in favour of clearing the European Parliament's accounts for 2006, despite the Court of Auditors pointing out that 75% of expenditure on MEPs' assistance allowances was unaccounted for. A clear majority of MEPs also signed off the accounts for 2007 - again despite auditors raising concerns over unaccounted expenditure.
CATEGORIES
A) Transparency, openness and democracy
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Voted for easier public access to EU documents
2. Voted against keeping MEPs' expenses and accounts secret
3. Voted to increase transparency, including better public access to MEPs' voting records
4. Responded to Open Europe's Transparency Initiative on expenses and allowances
5. Voted in favour of imposing sanctions for MEPs guilty of financial irregularities
6. Voted in favour of providing mandatory receipts for travel expenses
7. Voted to respect the outcome of the pending legally-binding Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty
8. Voted in favour of opening Europe up to trade with developing countries
9. Achieved good attendance at the Parliament's voting sessions
B) Fighting waste and misuse of EU funds:
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Opted out of the Parliament's controversial second pension fund
2. Voted in favour of cleaning up the second pension fund
3. Supported moves to abolish the Parliament's second seat in Strasbourg
4. Voted against 'hypocritical' EU subsidies to tobacco farmers
5. Voted to reform the CAP and discontinue subsidies to tobacco farmers
6. Voted not to clear the European Parliament's accounts for 2006 due to 75% unaccounted expenditure on MEPs' assistance allowances
7. Voted not to approve the Parliament's accounts for 2007
8. Voted not to approve the Commission's accounts for 2007
9. Voted to postpone clearing the European Council's accounts for 2007
10. Voted against clearing the accounts of the European Police College for 2007 while it was under investigation for fraud
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1) For more information, please contact Mats Persson on 0044 7799 460691 or Lorraine Mullally on 0044 7817 027911.
2) Open Europe is an independent think-tank calling for reform of the European Union. Its supporters include: Sir Stuart Rose, Executive Chairman, Marks and Spencer plc; Sir Crispin Davis, Former Chief Executive, Reed Elsevier Group plc; Sir David Lees, Chairman, Tate and Lyle plc; Henry Keswick, Chairman, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd; Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG, Life President, J Sainsbury plc; Sir John Egan, Chairman, Severn Trent plc and Lord Kalms of Edgware, President, DSG International plc.
For a full list, please click here:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/about-us/supporters.aspx