The European Parliament is cancelling podcasts and events, canning plans to expand its visitor attractions and slashing internal publications as part of a cost-cutting drive.
The Parliament’s Secretary-General Alessandro Chiocchetti last year launched an “action plan” aimed at trimming expenditure in the €2 billion-a-year institution. It comes as the European institutions are making efforts to slash red tape for businesses, with the Commission claiming it has already saved billions.
The 31-page plan, obtained by Euractiv’s Rapporteur newsletter under freedom of information rules, includes changes to staff performance assessments, a review of procurement rules, cuts to administrative paperwork and calls on officials to come up with ideas for using artificial intelligence.
The Parliament already went through a major shake-up before the action plan was created last year, when a single directorate was split into four. Chiocchetti argued in front of MEPs that it was necessary to focus the Parliament’s work more squarely on scrutinising legislation.
Under the action plan, the Parliament’s research department podcast was scrapped, while its communications service concluded that hosting art exhibitions for the rotating Council presidency every six months was no longer a good use of resources.
A planned expansion of the “role play game” in which tourists visiting the Parliament can pretend to be an MEP has also been scrapped.
The Parliament also plans to update the rules governing staff trips, known internally as “missions”. Environmental considerations will be embedded in the framework, alongside “appropriate principles” aimed at ensuring staff benefit from a healthy work-life balance.
(vib)