Open Europe publishes league table of MEPs (UK 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."
"They might talk a good game at home, but too many British MEPs have voted against transparency and EU reform on a number of occasions. What we need now is a new generation of politicians, committed to acting in the public interest and pushing for a much better deal for taxpayers at all levels of government - including EU level."
"With elections to the European Parliament just days away, candidates should be promising constituents 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 wrongdoing have been shown a 'red card' in our ranking and had 10 points deducted from their score.
The ranking has two main categories: 'Transparency, openness and democracy' and 'Fighting waste and misuse of EU funds'.
KEY FINDINGS:
Top 10 UK MEPs
1. Caroline Lucas Green Party 43 points
1. Struan Stevenson Conservative 43 points
1. Alyn Smith SNP 43 points
4. Diana Wallis Lib-Dem 42 points
5. Jim Allister Independent 41 points
6. Derek Clark UKIP 40 points
6. Fiona Hall Lib-Dem 40 points
6. Malcolm Harbour Conservative 40 points
9. Chris Heaton-Harris Conservative 39 points
9. Gerard Batten UKIP 39 points
9. Liz Lynne Lib-Dem 39 points
Bottom 10 UK MEPs
78. David Sumberg Conservative 10 points
76. John Whittaker UKIP 11 points
76. Robert Kilroy-Silk Independent 11 points
75. Trevor Colman UKIP 13 points* (MEP since Oct 08)
74. Jonathan Evans Conservative 14 points
72. Godfrey Bloom UKIP 19 points
72. Giles Chichester Conservative 19 points
71. Nirj Deva Conservative 21 points
70. Roger Knapman UKIP 22 points
66. Nigel Farage UKIP 23 points
66. Baroness Nicholson Lib-Dem 23 points
66. Den Dover Conservative 23 points
66. Glenis Willmott Labour 23 points* (MEP since Jan 06)
UK Party positions
Of the political parties in the UK, the Greens showcased the strongest performance, although they only have two members in the European Parliament. Of the main political Parties, the Lib-Dems collectively outperformed both Labour and the Conservatives - owing primarily to their strong record in promoting transparency.
Party Number of MEPs Average score per MEP
1. Green Party 2 39.5
2. Scottish National Party 2 38.5
3. Liberal Democrats 11 35
4. Conservative Party 28 29.5
5. Labour 19 29.3
6. Independents 4 26.75 (Jillian Evans MEP, Plaid Cymru 27 points; Baibre de Brún MEP 27 points; James Nicholson MEP, Ulster Unionist Party 30 points;)
7. UKIP 9 24.89
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)
BRITISH MEPS AT A GLANCE:
· In April 2009, a majority of British MEPs (60%) voted to keep details about their own expenses secret, as well as voting against financial disciplinary measures for MEPs found guilty of misuse of funds, and voting to keep secret demands to pay back money. Only 24% of all British members voted to make expenses public.
· Only 13 out of 78 British MEPs voted in favour of a symbolic proposal calling for governments to respect the outcome of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty -before the referendum had even taken place.
· In 2005, 11 Labour MEPs voted in favour of a proposal to allow the deficit in MEPs' highly controversial, and possibly illegal, second pension scheme to be plugged with taxpayers' money. They also voted against attempts to oblige MEPs to contribute funds from their own pockets, as opposed to from their allowances, as is currently the case.
· Extraordinarily, in 2008 three Conservative British MEPS voted in favour of spending €290 million of taxpayers' money on subsidies to tobacco farmers - despite the fact that the EU simultaneously spends millions on anti-smoking campaigns, such as the €74 million campaign named "Help: for a life without tobacco".
· 30 British MEPs voted in favour of signing off the European Parliament's own accounts for 2006, despite serious concerns raised by the European Court of Auditors over allowances for MEPs' assistants. The auditors noted that only around 27% of the expenditure was adequately accounted for in 2006. Despite this, the European Parliament voted to clear the accounts.
· In 2005, three Labour MEPs voted against obliging MEPs to produce receipts for their travel expenses.
· Conservative MEP David Sumberg ranks last among all British MEPs, and 711th out of 785 of all MEPs. He was absent from all of Open Europe's snapshot votes, apart from three - including one in which he voted to give more tobacco subsidies to farmers, and another in which he abstained on the decision over whether or not to respect the outcome of the pending Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
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