Living as an “ex-MEP”

Being a former MEP: to what extent does life change? Needless saying that there will no longer be weekly trips to Brussels and Strasbourg, nor the endless multilanguage meetings on agriculture, energy, or crisis and single currency. Friendships created during the years of mandate will wane as well as professional relations with assistants, MEPs and Euro-Parliament offices. What happens when it’s time to pack and go back home, after spending years building – sometimes as architects and others as bricklayers – the “common European home”? In these circumstances these doubts assail hundreds of outgoing MEPs who will no longer run as candidates for the 22-25 May elections. The same applies for others running for another mandate but who won’t reach the minimum threshold of votes to gain a parliamentary seat. In order to support this “baton-passing rite”, the European Parliament Former Members Association, set up in 1999, has published a “Guide to Life after Parliament”. The title is not that suggestive, but in a way it represents an overview of life within Community institutions. Responsibilities, memories. The 40-page “Handbook”, presented by the President of the Former Members Association Pat Cox, features a section with practical information, such as how to vacate the offices occupied during the term; follows a chapter on acquired rights, including pension and medical insurance; on how to store data and files accumulated during the mandate (archive). There also is a section on “rights applicable after the termination of functions”, including access to the buildings of the EU Parliament. But the most interesting part is certainly the closing chapter with the personal accounts of some “ex” MEPs, who speak of how they spent their time when they regained their “free citizens” status. Removal sherpas. “Clearing out from your office can be very hectic and laborious so it is important to organize a smooth transition”. With emphasis probably worthy of other causes, the “Handbook” delves into the details of removal, with detailed information on related chores that require “a special meeting with the staff” (which evocates a burdensome transferral of boxes entrusted to parliamentary assistants, which rather than being Tibetan sherpas are in most cases young graduates, holding Master degrees, speaking several languages, experts in legal, economic and political matters). The publication delves into the details of packaging, keys consignment, emptying of safe-deposit boxes, removal firms, computers and fax restitution. It also features a list of the rights of outgoing MEPs that include transitional allowance, old age pension, voluntary pension schemes, reimbursement of medical expenses, insurance, language and I.T. courses… Limited benefits after termination of service, including access to parking and Parliament cafes. Nomadic preachers. Enrique Baròn Crespo, Spanish MEP from 1986 to 2009, also served as EP President. He cherishes living memories of his political activity that he dedicated to the “return of democracy in my Country and the European Home”, he said. Today Baròn Crespo holds the Jean Monnet Chair at the Universidad de Castilla La Mancha. “My task is to explain European democracy and the role of the European Parliament to young people, as a nomadic preacher”. Also French MEP Nicole Fontaine, serving in Strasbourg and Brussels in the years 1984-2009, former president of the Assembly, holds a Monnet chair in Nice. She promotes various courses and conferences throughout France and beyond national borders. “I left the my role as MEP with, a tinge of regret”. She added: “However, I remain consistent with my European beliefs and jealously preserve the wonderful memories of such a long and extraordinary period in my life”. European ambassadors. Panayiotis Demetriou, MEP from Cyprus in the legislature 2004-2009 is still affected by the separation from EU seats. “It’s been five years since I left” the Commission, he said, “and I still feel a void in my life. When I served as MEP, I realized that the national issues of my Country – in particular the question of the military occupation by Turkey and the division of Cyprus – could have been addressed better within a strong European family”. German MEP Brigitte Langenhagen, in office from 1990 to 2004 seems relieved. She recalls “hot debates”, the “joy for a majority voting” in the European Assembly, the hard work to adopt a directive. She concludes with advice to ex MEPs: “Write a book. Become painters or musicians who illustrate in their own ways what they think of Europe and of the rest of the world. Cook a European meal with friends. And remember that you are ambassadors of Europe”.