Brakes put on MEPs' gravy train

Euro MPs, the butt of much public criticism for their lavish allowances and salaries, are facing pre-Christmas cutbacks aimed at cleaning up the Strasbourg assembly's gravy-train image.

MEPs who fail to show up for at least half of all votes will lose half of their pounds 175-a-day meals and accommodation allowance, under a decision taken by party managers and the Parliament's president. The move comes amid fresh attacks after television documentaries in Germany and The Netherlands alleged to show MEPs signing on a register to collect their daily cash but then failing to take part in debates or votes.

Some MEPs reacted to the unflattering exposure and to criticism of the cost of installing showers in their new offices-pounds 7,000-each, by demanding a clampdown on media and television access to their buildings.

An internal committee which has been studying possibilities for long- term reform has recommended harmonising salaries to end the system whereby deputies are paid the same as their national counterparts. Lavish allowances and expenses are designed in part to "compensate" the lowest-paid members for a system which allows Italians to earn almost four times what their Irish or Greek colleagues take home.

But party leaders, uncomfortable with the slow progress in restoring Strasbourg's credibility, recognise they must demonstrate they are trimming the scope for pocketing huge profits on travel and meals reimbursements.