The Bureau of the European Parliament, which brings together President Roberta Metsola and the 14 Vice-Presidents, has given the green light to reform proposals that also provide for a six-month period between the complaint and a decision on whether harassment has been committed and introduces the possibility of termination amicably by contract and by mutual agreement between the hierarchical superior and the person reporting the harassment.
This body has reached a political agreement on the reforms, but the final adoption of the amendments awaits consultation of the committees and the drafting of the final legal text.
One of the accepted amendments is training for deputies, which is expected to be mandatory in the new legislature and will include notions of team management, as well as prevention and identification of harassment situations.
The changes also include the creation of a mediation service provided by the European Parliament to try to resolve the conflict before the victim is formally charged.
They also include an improvement in the organization of hearings, which examines whether or not harassment was involved, a reduction in the decision period and limitation of the number of delegates present for reports of a sensitive or sexual nature, among other changes.
The European Parliament’s MeToo movement, which has been pushing for sweeping internal reforms at the institution for nearly six years, today released the first results of an internal inquiry into experiences of harassment.
The survey, which was answered by a tenth of employees, shows that more than half claim to have already experienced moral harassment, while almost 16% have already experienced sexual harassment and 6.6% violence or physical harassment.
A spokeswoman for this movement, speaking to the EFE agency, regarded the changes as “a step in the right direction, but not enough” and stressed in particular that “it is not clear” what the consequences will be of not getting mandatory training, which some MPs rejected even though it was voluntary.
Source: DN
