Friday - May 22, 2009

NO WORK FOR TWO YEARS AND DRAW FULL PAY? SURE. ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE THRU TAXPAYER!

This is more of the same regarding public monies but not the scandal stuff I’ve been sharing. It’s weird enough though.

Lyndon will correct me if I have it wrong I’m sure, but I heard figures that the UK PAYS £4million A DAY to the EU.  ???
I have no idea what this country gets back for that.  I hear a lot of grumbling and people saying they want out.  Their critics then say those folks are living in another world and not a logical one as the EU has a lot of positive benefits.  ??  I’m out of my depth on that EXCEPT where I actually see and read about laws passed in Brussels that apparently have to be obeyed here in England. Again ...  ???

I do know cuz I’ve been here long enough to have seen this, that where the people vote on the issue, the powers that be in the EU say whoops. You didn’t really mean that NO Vote, so we’ll give you another chance to correct the first voted mistake by the little people.
And it look like the Irish are going to vote all over again. 

So I guess a vote here on this issue at least is almost meaningless. 

There isn’t a link to the source for this article in this morning’s paper.  I spent a good bit of time talking to folks at Telegraph today because this wasn’t in their on line version.  So I got the library to email this to me.  The same for the story that will follow on a different subject.

22 May 2009 DAILY TELEGRAPH Page 22 (DTN) Edition 1C (482 words)
The £6m MEPs with no work to do
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
EIGHTEEN “phantom” MEPs will be elected on full pay and perks next month despite not being able to start work for up to two years due to Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

The extra candidates will be chosen in the European Union elections on June 4 despite the treaty, which increases the number of MEPs from 736 to 754, remaining unsigned.

Amid confusion over when and how they will take up their seats, the European Parliament will give the extra MEPs “observer” status from next year. The deal will mean they can draw full salaries and allowances at an annual cost of more than £6million without any legislative duties.

The 18 MEPs, from 12 EU countries, including the West Midlands, will be paid more than £76,000 a year, with staff and office allowances worth £210,000.
They will also be entitled to tax-free allowances of £255 for every day of their limbo existence in Brussels and can claim back business class travel.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, said: “Welcome to virtual politics.

This has to be the political expenses scandal to end all expenses scandals. The perfect politician for today’s elite — one that takes wages and does no work at all.” Ireland votes again on the Lisbon Treaty this autumn with the intention that it can come into force in January next year but an additional legal “protocol” allowing the MEPs to assume full duties could take another two years.

The Irish vote could also reject the treaty again, throwing the EU into a political crisis and freezing the size of the parliament.
Richard Corbett, the Labour MEP who guided the Lisbon Treaty through the European Parliament, defended the arrangement to make them “observers”.

“This is straightforward and there is no need to make a fuss,” he said. “They can do all the work of an MEP except taking part in votes. This is a way of making a smooth transition and has been done before.” Spanish ministers argued that there would be an “imbalance” between the EU institutions if the 18 MEPs could not take their seats until the end of the new parliament in 2014 due to Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. They were seeking a deal under which the extra MEPs would take their seats as soon as the treaty came into force.

One option was to include a clause in an EU entry treaty for Croatia in 2011 but Spain wanted to force all countries to agree a deal in their national parliaments next year.
Andrew Duff, the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, suggested that the slow process of ratifying the move could mean that the MEPs remain observers for years.

“From January 2010, a legal instrument is going to have to be ratified in each national parliament. We know that can take a long time,” he said..
Copyright: Telegraph Group Ltd

Posted by peiper     on 05/22/2009 at 09:53 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Government •  
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