MEPs threatened with fine if they miss Barroso’s first State of the Union speech

The suggestion to fine those MEPs who dared to miss the three-hour speech was made by the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament.

Influential Brussels website EU Observer has revealed how an electronic test would be carried out three times during the debate, starting early on Tuesday 7 September, and MEPs who are twice conspicuous by their absence “may be subject to a small financial penalty”.

The political group leaders' decision, taken at a meeting on Thursday, was summed up in an e-mail message leaked to EU Observer.

"With a view to ensuring the highest possible attendance at the debate on the State of the Union, (it has been decided) to introduce specific checks on Members' presence in the Chamber using the electronic system at three different moments during the debate," the leaked email revealed.

"What this means in practice is that there will be 3 ‘appel nominal de presence’ during the State of the of Union debate. Those Members not present at 2 out of 3 checks will face a financial penalty," the leaked e-mail said nonchalantly.

The exact details were still to be worked out by EP President Jerzy Buzek, and the institution's 14 Vice-Presidents when they meet on Monday evening.

It was likely that absent MEPs would be fined a quarter of their daily allowance. MEPs receive a daily diet of €298 for attending plenary and voting.

An EP source gave EU Observer a semantic reply: “"It's not a question of fines, it is a question of getting your daily allowance”.

The new idea would be based on a fine system already used for attendance during voting. "The system is that if you are not present at at least half of the roll call votes during the plenary, you will lose half of your daily allowances of the week," the source was quoted as saying.

Barroso's speech was to start at 9am Brussels time on Tuesday and is expected to take the temperature of the EU, which has been besieged by the economic crisis, and which was struggling to find its feet on the global stage.

Given past attendance records, Labour MEP John Attard Montalto and Nationalist MEP David Casa are the most likely to give this important speech a miss.