EU, MEPs protest against the suspension of the daily allowance of 323 euros. Sassoli barely calms disputes: the video

Hot confrontation yesterday in the plenary session of the European Parliament between the president of the European Parliament, David sassoli, and the German MEP from Ppe, Markus Ferber, who strongly contested the decision of close the parliament registry office from 2 to 30 November and therefore suspend the possibility for MEPs to sign their presence in the Chamber, in order to receive the per day of 323 euros.

During the session, what for more than 20 minutes he dealt with the daily allowance and not the Covid emergencyFerber repeatedly protested loudly and interrupted Sassoli, who explained the need to stop the registry office for a few weeks, adding: “In recent months, Parliament has decided not to accept the references to the regulation because it would be a form of not guaranteeing equal treatment for all. Dear colleague, the references to the regulation can be presented in writing and will be examined later, as we did in the previous plenaries “.

The controversy, which lasted almost half an hour, was barely quelled by Sassoli, who, regaining his calm, gave the floor to Ferber. And the MEP reiterated: “Here we are talking about very important legislation because it concerns Covid and, therefore, I would be happy to know if the will of different groups to put this point on the agenda can be taken into account. What is happening is unacceptable. She gets a daily allowance, while we can’t say the same. Therefore, I ask you to do your duty and insert my report to put it in today’s order.

Sassoli, with a nervous smile, replied: “Mrs. Ferber, unfortunately I have to disappoint you. After a little scrutiny, I discovered that his application was never officially received by any political group.. Perhaps this small detail was missing: requests must be made an hour before the start of the plenary on the basis of the rules. In addition, I remind you that the decision on the registration of signatures was taken unanimously by the Parliament’s table, because in recent weeks – he continued – they were produced in the European Parliament hundreds of contagion cases, including parliamentarians, collaborators, Parliament staff. Only On the penultimate weekend we had 171 positive cases. Therefore, it was necessary to take the decision not to overcrowd Parliament, precisely to protect our institution and the functioning of Parliament itself. This decision is temporary, it lasts a few weeks. And it was important to take it for the health of all and avoid the closure of Parliament at this time.