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All MEPs will in future have to follow mandatory training sessions within the first six months in office focusing on the prevention of conflict and harassment in the workplace.
They will also be taught “effective office management.”
Parliament’s new anti-harassment rule, which has just been agreed, will be among the final votes during this mandate before the EU elections in June.
Mandatory training, which the parliament first called for in a resolution on ‘MeToo and harassment’ in December 2021, aims to reduce the risk of harassment in the European Parliament.
Several MEP assistants have, in the past, complained of being bullied and harassed by deputies and others on the parliament’s premises.
Failure to comply with the training would give Parliament’s group leaders the power to trigger a plenary vote on the removal of an elected officeholder.
Concretely, this could mean loss of office for a member elected as president, vice-president, quaestor, committee chair or vice-chair or chair or vice-chair of an interparliamentary delegation.
In this legislative term, 319 members (45 per cent) have participated in such training.
S&D vice-president Gaby Bischoff led the negotiations for mandatory harassment training for the constitutional affairs committee.
She said, “As a public institution as well as an employer, the European Parliament has a duty to set the gold standard in tackling harassment in the workplace.”
“Clear rules and strong sanctions must be in place to support a zero-tolerance approach towards inappropriate behaviour.”
“Prevention is key as it enables us to address issues proactively, before they escalate. Mandatory training reinforces our commitment to a workplace where the dignity of all is respected and protected.”
