2.

Article 34 is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. Several Members may, by written agreement, form a grouping in order jointly to employ or to use the services of one or more assistants as referred to in paragraph 1. In this case, the Members concerned shall designate from amongst their number the Member(s) authorised to sign the contract, or to submit a request for recruitment, on behalf of the grouping. Members shall submit a written declaration to the relevant department laying down the respective shares to be deducted from the amount provided for in Article 33(4).’; (b) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: ‘5. Members may also make use of natural or legal persons providing services in order to obtain occasional and clearly identified services directly linked to the exercise of their parliamentary mandate, in accordance with the conditions laid down in this chapter.’; (c) paragraphs 7 and 8 are replaced by the following: ‘7. The Bureau shall adopt a list of expenses which may be defrayed for the purpose of parliamentary assistance. 8. The names of assistants and trainees as well as the names or corporate names of service providers and of paying agents shall, for the duration of their contract, be published on the website of the European Parliament, together with the name of the Member or Members they assist. Those assistants, trainees, service providers and paying agents may, on the duly justified ground of protection of their safety, request in writing that their name or corporate name not be published on the European Parliament's website. The Secretary-General shall decide whether to grant such a request.’; (d) the following paragraphs are added: ‘9. The number of contracts between a Member and accredited assistants in force at any given time may not exceed three, regardless of the duration of work provided for in those contracts. This limit may be increased to four if an exemption is expressly granted by the President of Parliament following verification by the relevant department that the Member concerned has sufficient office space to comply with the standards applicable to the use of Parliament's buildings, taking into account also the number of trainees that may be present. 10. At least 25 % of the amount provided for in Article 33(4) shall be earmarked for meeting costs arising under Title VII of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union. Therefore, all costs in respect of parliamentary assistance expenses other than those arising under Title VII of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union may not together exceed 75 % of the amount provided for in Article 33(4). Moreover, the expenses in relation to the provision of services referred to in Article 34 may not exceed 25 % of the amount provided for in Article 33(4). These limits shall be calculated on the cumulative basis per financial year of the monthly entitlements provided for in Article 33(4), plus any unused balance carried over to the following financial year under Article 33(6), on a pro rata basis. 11. Parliament shall defray expenses of local assistants for gross earnings or fees net of VAT up to monthly ceilings which shall be established by the Bureau in accordance with paragraph 12. The ceilings may be adapted by the Bureau annually. The applicable ceilings shall be published on Parliament's website. 12. The ceilings shall correspond to three times the reference amount. The reference amount shall be one twelfth of the amount published by Eurostat as being the average gross annual pay of persons in full-time employment in the Member State of election of the Member concerned. However, the ceilings calculated in this way cannot be less than the basic pay of a grade 6 accredited parliamentary assistant or more than that of a grade 19 accredited parliamentary assistant. Any bonus shall be defrayed only up to the aforementioned ceilings calculated on an annual basis. The ceilings shall be reduced pro rata where the local assistant works part-time or where the local assistant does not work a full month.’.