For information on interventions Caroline has made in plenary sessions of the European Parliament please visit the European Parliament website, or look at the ‘In the Parliament’ section on the following pages - animal rights, environment and health, food and farming, human rights, international trade and development, peace and anti-nuclear, transport and aviation
You can follow events in the European Parliament as they happen on the Parliament’s live webcam. You can also see Caroline’s speaking appearances in the chamber by viewing her MEP flash player.
Caroline and her fellow UK Green MEP Jean Lambert are members of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament. For an overview of the Group’s policies, please read the Greens’ Book. You can find more information on the Group’s website.
- What is the role of the European Parliament?
- How are decisions made in the Parliament?
- Can citizens influence what goes on in the Parliament?
- What is the role of an MEP?
- MEP Pay and Allowances
What is the role of the European Parliament?
The European Parliament is one of the 3 main institutions involved the creation of European law. The others are the European Commission and the European Council.
The 1997 Amsterdam Treaty gave the European Parliament an increased role in policy-making, although its influence is still relatively small compared to the Council and Commission. The links below give a good introduction to what the Parliament and the other two main institutions do.
- A general introduction to the different European Institutions and their roles
- Information about the European Parliament
- Information about the European Commission
- Information about the European Council
How are decisions made in the Parliament?
The processes by which decisions are reached in the Parliament often vary depending on the type of legislation or other decisions being made. It is important to note, also, that much of the work which influences the final decision taken by the Parliament on a piece of proposed legislation takes place at an informal level, outside the formal Committee meetings and plenary sessions. This includes, for example, lobbying by the public, businesses and other organisations, and meetings with representatives from the Commission, Council or Presidency and bodies such as the Economic and Social Committee. Within the Parliament, Rapporteurs will discuss their report with their colleagues and advisers within political groupings, and there is a considerable amount of negotiating which goes on with MEPs of other political groups in order to try and get as much support as possible for the report.
The Committees
Within the European Parliament there are 17 permanent Committees dealing with different subject areas. Each Committee has a number of MEPs who are full members, and others who are ’substitute’ members. There are also a number of temporary Committees which are formed as important matters arise - for example, on Echelon or genetic technology.
When a piece of draft legislation is sent to Parliament from the Commission, it is given to the relevant Committee to deal with. The Committee, by co-ordinating the political groups, allocates one of its members as ‘Rapporteur’. The Rapporteur is responsible for writing a Report on the Commission document on behalf of the Committee. A typical report would consist of a number of amendments, or changes to the text, where the Rapporteur thinks that improvements need to be made.
Normally, one or more other Committees produce an Opinion on the original proposal. For example, the Civil Liberties Committee is responsible for producing the Report on the proposal for a Community Immigration Policy. The Employment and Social Affairs Committee has been asked to write an Opinion on the proposal, in which they will ask the former Committee to include certain points in its report which cover the subject from the employment and social angle.
Once the Rapporteur has produced the report, other Committee members may also submit amendments to the text. The report then goes to vote in the Committee - the Committee votes on whether to accept each submitted amendment into the text, and finally whether to accept the report as a whole. The majority of reports are accepted, and go on to be voted on by the whole Parliament in the plenary session. This is when the whole Parliament meets together to discuss reports, amend them and put them to the vote, thus adopting its position on the matter. Amendments may therefore also be submitted prior to the plenary vote.
What happens to Parliament’s decision?
The report adopted by the Parliament then passes to the Council for their consideration. What happens at this stage depends on the procedure the proposal falls under. The number of times a piece of legislation in preparation goes back and forth between players, from the time of the initial proposal to its final adoption as a piece of EU legislation, varies according to the procedure. The legal base of each proposal, as set out in the Treaties, determines which procedure it falls under. The process can take years. Parliament often has to deal with the same proposal twice, as there is frequently a ‘Second Reading’ (if it is co-decision procedure - see below), after the Parliament’s decision the first time round has been considered by the Council and Commission. There are four different procedures.
How much influence the Parliament’s own decision on a particular proposal has on the final piece of legislation varies - it is just one of a number of institutions involved in forming legislation. A lot of bargaining and give and take goes on between the different institutions involved. On some matters the Parliament’s opinion must be taken into account, and the legislation cannot be passed without Parliament’s agreement (this is called the co-decision procedure (for a guide to the co-decision procedure in a PDF format, please click here). On others, however, the Parliament gives its opinion but this does not have to be taken into account by the Council, which has the final say. This is called the consultation procedure. There is also a cooperation procedure, which gives the Parliament more say than in consultation but less than in co-decision, but this is now rarely used, and an assent procedure, which is reserved solely for special measures.
It is in the Parliament’s interests that as much as possible is based on co-decision procedure, where its powers are strongest, and as little as possible is based on the consultation procedure, where its powers are weakest. The procedure a legislative proposal falls under depends, broadly speaking, on its subject area. Since 1997, more EU legislation is subject to co-decision procedure, but agricultural, justice and home affairs, trade, fiscal harmonisation and EMU issues are still not.
Can citizens influence what goes on in Parliament?
The role of lobbying
During the time when a proposed piece of legislation is with the Parliament, from receiving the proposal to the Parliament’s adopted report, there are many different influences acting on the path the Parliament takes with regard to the issue. Besides all the many people working on it inside the Parliament and in other EU institutions, MEPs are lobbied from all sides including:
- individuals, especially constituents
- businesses and firms with an interest in the outcome
- non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with an interest in the outcome
- professional lobbying organisations hired to lobby on behalf of organisations or firms
The amount of lobbying, and who does the lobbying, varies from one issue to the next. This depends on factors such as who the interest groups are and how controversial the issue is.
Sometimes all MEPs are lobbied on an issue. Sometimes the lobbying is more targeted, not extending beyond the Rapporteur and other MEPs who work particularly on that issue. This is likely for more specialised topics.
There is no way of measuring the real influence of lobbying, but there is no doubt it does have an effect. It does this by:·
- informing MEPs about the opinions of their constituents and European citizens in general
- pointing out new angles and arguments on a subject
- bringing a particular report or proposal to someone’s attention
Sometimes it is the sheer volume of lobbying on a particular issue that has an effect, while on other occasions just one letter can make a difference. The effect of corporate lobbying is of particular concern to Caroline, especially as she has seen it result in the watering down of legislative proposals eg on animal testing and control of chemicals. Powerful industry lobbyists not only apply pressure to MEPs, they also influence the European Commission and the Council of Ministers. Greens have argued that there needs to be clearer regulation of lobbying and from 2010 onwards Caroline is going to keep a record of the lobbying she receives from eg campaign groups.
In common with many other full time elected represenatives, as well as receiving a salary Members of the European Parliament may apply for funds designed to help them properly represent constituents. These allowances are for specific purposes and are explained in detail below. Allowances are not intended to supplement the MEP’s salary, nor are they for personal use. However, the systems in place to protect against abuse are far from good enough and Green MEPs have been actively involved in efforts to introduce wide ranging improvements.
A note from Caroline on the need to reform MEP allowances:
"Even though some long-overdue reforms are finally being made to the system of MEP allowances, it still remains open to abuse. As a member of the cross-party Campaign for Parliamentary Reform, I have long called for the introduction of an efficient, fair and transparent system for reimbursing members’ expenses. For example, back in 2004, Green MEPs demanded that there should be an obligation on MEPs to provide supporting documents/receipts for at least 50% of the General Allowance, which funds our offices, but we were unable to find a majority for this proposal in Parliament.
Greens continue to campaign to abolish the European Parliament’s monthly move to Strasbourg, which is both hugely costly and environmentally damaging. We are also at the forefront of efforts to improve working conditions for parliamentary staff."
Reforming the allowances system
There is rightly much concern about the system of allowances for MPs and MEPs. The Green Group in the European Parliament are committed to making the system fair, transparent, and protected against abuse. Caroline is an active member of the cross-party Campaign for Parliamentary Reform (CPR), which campaigns for reforms including:
- introducing an efficient and transparent system for reimbursing members’ allowances
- abolishing the parliament’s monthly lock-stock-and-barrel move to
- introducing transparent rules on the funding of political parties
- improving working conditions for parliamentary staff
The think tank Open Europe named Caroline Lucas as the
What are MEPs paid?
Prior to July 2009 MEPs were paid at a rate equivalent to MPs in the country they represent, leading to huge discrepancies between MEPs from eg Poland and Italy. Scrapping this in favour of equal salaries helped push through some of the recent reform of the allowances and expenses system, as many MEPs now no longer argue for excessive travel expenses to top up their salaries. Nevertheless, Caroline still argues that much more is needed in the way of reform.
When the new equal salary arrangement was voted upon it would have represented a decrease in wages for UK MEPs. However, changes in the exchange rate mean this is not the case at present. Nevertheless, Caroline will personally be no better off as she donates the difference in the new salary, as well as 15% of the total, to the Green Party.
Parliamentary allowances
The European Parliament’s total budget represents 1% of all EU expenditure. Some 21% of that 1% is allocated to MEPs expenditure at present. Each Member of the European Parliament is entitled to claim the allowances detailed below, which are paid from the Parliament’s budget.
In 2009 this allowance is 4.202 euros per month. It is used for expenditure in the UK, such as constituency office rent, telephone and postal charges, and IT costs. The allowance is halved if an MEP fails to attend at least half of the Strasbourg plenary sessions, without seeking prior permission on the grounds of illness, for example.
Though there is no formal requirement from the Parliament to do so, Caroline publishes an itemised summary of her annual general expenses (see the auditing and reporting section below). She is also now making available invoices/receipts for major items of expenditure with the aim of accounting for at least 50% of the General Expenditure Allowance over the course of the year, in line with the position that Greens have promoted in the European Parliament.
Secretarial Allowance (Parliamentary Assistance Expenses)
The maximum payment at present is 17,540 euros per month. This has to be spent on “human resources”, people to assist Members in their work. This can cover staff employed on a long-term (the 5 years that a Parliament lasts) or temporary basis, and also covers other possibilities such as consultancy and research.
It also covers all the related costs such as national insurance, tax, pension, training and staff expenses should they be asked to travel to
The Parliamentary Assistance Expenses cannot be paid directly to the MEPs themselves and Caroline uses the Green MEP Trust as her approved Paying Agent to administer her UK staff resources
Caroline’s contract with her Paying Agent is regulated by the Parliamentary authorities. At the end of each calendar year, Caroline, through her Paying Agent, has to provide a detailed reconciliation of the monies received for Parliamentary Assistance.
Caroline currently has three full-time members of staff (2 in
Information about pay bands for those staff that Caroline employs is available here.
Sunsistence Allowance
Given that MEPs are required to move frequently between their constituencies and the European Parliament’s two main places of work (Brussels and Strasbourg), they can claim a subsistence allowance to cover expenses such as hotel rooms and/or flat rental, meals etc. No receipts are required as this is a lump-sum payment, made if they sign the official register or the attendance list at the official meeting (298 euros per day at the 2009 rate). During official plenaries of the Parliament, the amount is halved if a Member is not present for 50% of the roll-call votes. In 2008 Caroline’s subsistence allowance was 35,157 euros. The total for 2009 will be available shortly and information about how much subsistence allowance she claimed from January - July 2009 is included here .
This allowance is for travel between the European Parliament’s main places of work (Brussels and Strasbourg) and Caroline’s constituency of South East England. Her total travel expenditure for 2009 will be available shortly. Between January and July 2009 she spent £10,026 on this travel.
The Green Group have been at the forefront of efforts to change the previous system of a flat rate travel allowance and since July 2009 this has been abolished. Under the new rules, on presentation of tickets MEPs are refunded the actual cost of their travel tickets plus a distance allowance for attending official Parliamentary meetings. Caroline is using the distance share of her allowance to pay for any additional travel around the constituency, which used to be paid for from the General Expenditure Allowance under the old system.
Also under the previous system, MEPs were entitled to retain the difference between the actual cost of travel and the amount claimable. Caroline used this to pay for additional travel to meetings and events within the
She travels by train wherever possible and, while recognising that off-setting is not a solution in itself, she does think that, when combined with serious effort to choose the most sustainable form of transport for any given journey, it can have a role to play. She, therefore, both offsets the carbon emissions from her travel, and also increasingly tries to replace journeys with video-conferencing when appropriate.
Personal Travel Allowance
Each Member has a personal travel allowance of 4148 euros a year to enable them to accept invitations or make their own fact-finding journeys outside their own
Pension Scheme
MEP pensions are now dealt with by the European Parliament and the old voluntary additional pensions scheme has been abolished for newly elected MEPs. Caroline was never a member of this scheme, as contributions came from the general allowance and she regarded this as a misuse of EU tax payers’ money.
Auditing and Reporting
The Green MEP Trust accounts have been verified by an independent firm of auditors and you can read their certificate for the year ending December 31st 2008 here You can also see Caroline’s general expenditure for 2008 here.
The auditors certificate for the period January-July 31st 2009 is here and you can see a summary of Caroline’s expenditure for this period here.
Information for expenditure since the start of the new Parliamentary term will be posted by early February 2010, once all invoices have been received and reconciled.
For 2010 and subsequent years general and other allowance expenditure information will be posted on a quarterly basis as part of ongoing efforts to improve how we report back to constituents. Caroline has already posted some general allowance expenditure receipts for the first quarter of the new parliamentary term above.
