Three months have passed since the socialist MEP Mónica Silvana was sanctioned for harassing her assistants without the socialists taking more measures than the 30-day suspension imposed on her by the European Parliament. Now she has come out that she requested the suspension of her membership in the PSOE, according to the Efe Agency and socialist sources have confirmed to elDiario.es. She has also left the Spanish socialist delegation. However, she continues to be part of the group of Socialists and Democrats (S & D) led by Iratxe García.
The European Parliament investigates the MEP of Ciudadanos José Ramón Bauzá for workplace harassment
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The European Parliament imposed on Silvana the maximum sanction provided for the harassment of her three assistants from the beginning of the legislature until the year 2021, when they decided to file the formal complaint. After a process that lasted more than a year and a half, the Eurochamber accredited the psychological harassment for which they had presented medical reports. In addition to the suspension of activity, the punishment involved the termination of the allowances during that period, which amounted to about 10,000 euros.
Silvana assured that she had been “unfairly sanctioned” and charged against the system. “I have not had the minimum procedural guarantees that I would have had in any ordinary justice process. To give just one example, the dossier has been directed by a parliamentary assistant from the European ultra-right, and the key testimonies of people who continue to work with me have not been heard or taken into account,” he said then in a statement in which he pointed out which would appeal to the General Court of the EU.
For now Silvana has appealed and the case remains open. That is the reason why the MEP assures that her loss of membership is temporary. S&D sources explain that they will make decisions based on the result of that procedure.
Harassment in the Eurochamber is not an isolated incident. According to the data collected by the EFE Agency, between 2013 and 2021 there were 88 complaints of workplace or sexual harassment, although not all ended in sanctions. One of the most striking cases is that of the Luxembourg MEP Monica Semedo (RenewEurope), who has been punished for harassment on two occasions. The first was in 2021 and the second just happened. The parliamentarian has also charged against the procedure and has announced that she will resort to Justice.
The Advisory Committee in charge of studying complaints about psychological and sexual harassment and preventing these episodes in the European institution has another complaint against a Spanish MEP on the table: in this case, the former president of the Balearic Islands, José Ramón Bauzá, who has been denounced by one of his advisors. The process began last summer, as reported The confidential. Ciudadanos has avoided commenting on the matter until the conclusions of the Eurochamber are produced.
After receiving the complaints, the advisory committee opens an investigation if it considers that it has sufficient evidence. After listening to the statements of the MEP and witnesses from both sides, this committee (made up of three MEPs and two representatives of the attendees) makes a recommendation to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who is responsible for making a final decision. that communicates to the Plenary.
