Euro MPs’ £250k on luxury cushions
Splurge on ergonomic seating – because they have to sit down for 2 whole hours each day!
EURO MPs are to splurge £250,000 on bespoke cushions for their chairs after complaining that they are not comfortable enough for the average two hours a day that they sit in them.
Documents reveal that MEPs want the ‘ergonomic’ padding, paid for in part by UK taxpayers, so they do not strain themselves in the European Parliament while reaching to push buttons when voting on legislation.
MEPs held a debate on the issue after carrying out an ergonomic study on the chairs they use in the parliament chamber and committee rooms in the French city of Strasbourg – where they sit once a month.
Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder led the call for the cushions, which will be fitted to the already-padded dark blue leather chairs after next month’s European elections.
‘These chairs, in which we sit for hours at a time in meetings whilst voting, were not designed for women or smaller MEPs in general,’ she said. ‘We have chosen the cost effective option, which is to add ergonomic cushions to the chairs.
‘This means that smaller MEPs will no longer strain their backs while reaching over the large desks during voting sessions.’
But Tory MEP David Campsaving bell Bannerman criticised the plan, saying MEPs should be concentrating on delivering Brexit. ‘It is true that the current chairs are like Daleks without the manoeuvrability,’ he said. ‘But we should be concentrating on leaving the EU and billions in membership fees, not getting more comfy while still here.’
He said MEPs sit in their chairs for about two hours a day on average when the parliament is in Strasbourg.
Minutes of a debate devoted to the subject also reveal that the parliament wants new wheels attached to the chairs to make them easier to move.
An EU parliamentary source said the overall cost will be around €300,000 (£258,984).
According to a document, the current chairs are protected by French intellectual property rights, meaning MEPs cannot replace anything on them that would alter their appearance. The cushions will be bespoke and it is likely that as well as giving more padding for MPs’ bottoms they will provide a head and back rest. They will probably be attached with Velcro.
The document states that the French intellectual property rights protecting the chair design expire in 2024 and that after that ‘the new ergonomic chairs’ could be replaced by ‘more comfortable chairs’.
It says a ‘test phase’ received a ‘positive reaction’ and that the cushions should be available to the 751 MEPs.
The parliament in Strasbourg has been branded a ‘travelling circus’ because it sees thousands of Brussels officials and MEPs travel to the French city for a once-monthly sitting at a cost to taxpayers of around £150million a year.
It involves 2,500 boxes of material being moved from Brussels to Strasbourg, where MEPs stay in hotels and dine out at taxpayers’ expense. The decision to have a second seat was taken to appease France.
An EU parliament spokesman said: ‘The chairs are indeed very heavy and unwieldy and difficult to pull out from their desks and they have seats and backrests straight as planks.’
‘Concentrating on leaving the EU’