The team of so-called “confidential counsellors” was agreed last July after a series of sexual and psychological complaints against members of the European Parliament. According to secret documents from a meeting of the Parliament’s financial watchdogs, seen by Express.co.uk, accredited parliamentary assistants, officials from political groups and even trainees have accessed the service since it was formed. “The counsellors cannot act as mediators in a conflict between a staff member and a Member of Parliament but they are there to assist the staff members concerned with advice and support,” minutes from the Quaestors’s March session reads.
The team of seven counsellors have been busy, addressing at least 50 harassment cases, despite their only being 751 MEPs in Parliament. It is not clear when the service was launched, but the decision was made last July.
There are already plans to bulk up the service amid unprecedented levels of use by parliamentary staff.
“The network has been approached by approximately 50 colleagues so far,” according to the Quasestor’s notes.
“There was no end date specified for appointments to the network, but new colleagues might need to be appointed in the future.”
European Parliament hires team of seven counsellors to handle MEP harassment cases (Image: GETTY)
At least 50 staff have come forward to the team with complaints about MEPs (Image: GETTY)
Individual parliamentary departments have also set up their own services in the wake of the “Me Too” scandal, which has highlighted dozens of alleged sexual harassment cases.
The note reads: “Several DGs are putting in place their own services of confidential counsellors which could possibly be complemented with a mediation service for the whole Parliament.”
Officials are also working on a “mind matters” programme after it emerged that 50 percent of employees consider stress to be hampering their work.
They have created a five-point plan to helping staff overcome their concerns, including “events, workshops and mental health first aid”.
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Trainees were amongst the staff to register complains (Image: GETTY)
The Parliament’s Quasestor team have warned stress levels have been fuelled by “cases of harassment between members and their accredited assistants, which were yet another reason to emphasise the importance of the programme”.
Lee Rotherham, director of the Red Cell think-tank, said: “Brussels is miles behind the British Parliament in tackling abusive behaviour head on.
“This is not so surprising, given that criticism of the EU’s hallowed institutions is too often seen as personal disloyalty to a higher cause.”
When it emerges female staff in the House of Commons had been inappropriately touched, verbally abused and repeatedly propositioned an independent inquiry was launched within days.
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Some MEPs have pushed the #MeToo campaign to highlight sexual harassment in the Parliament (Image: GETTY)
An anonymous blog has attracted dozens of harrowing harassment stories (Image: GETTY)
Dame Laura Cox, a retired High Court judge, spoke with more than 200 people, including former staff who had signed non-disclosure agreements in order to reveal an “insidious and pervasive” culture of harassment.
Allegations included “frequent inappropriate touching” such as men “putting their arms around women, leaving a hand on their knee for an uncomfortably long time, trying to kiss them, grabbing their arms or bottoms or stroking their breasts or bottoms””.
In her report, Dame Laura said: “Some individuals will want to think very carefully about whether they are the right people to press the reset button and to do what is required to deliver change in the best interests of the House.”
EU member states’ budget contributions (Image: EXPRESS)
Commons Speaker John Bercow faces an inquiry into allegations of bullying as a result of the report.
In own of her final acts in office, Theresa May moved to open the Commons complains system to historical allegations.
Mr Bercow was accused of bullying by Angus Sinclair, his former private secretary.
Commons Speaker John Bercow received complaints during a British Parliament inquiry (Image: GETTY)
He is also accused of bullying former employee Kate Emma. He denied any wrongdoing
A spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Office last month said: “The Speaker welcomes the expansion of this scheme to include non-recent cases as another positive step towards changing the culture of parliament.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the European Parliament for comment.