The Labour Party's MEPs have written to the European Commission urging it to show stronger solidarity with the EU's own freelance interpreters, who have been offered miserly compensation while activity is slow because of COVID-19.

The delegation said the interpreters engaged by the commission and the European Parliament had been left without a job and without an income as face-to-face meetings ground to a halt.

They have been presented with a final offer of €1,300 in the form of a “special or deferral” contract.

The MEPs underlined the importance of the interpreters for the daily running of the EU and said the compensation they had been offered was inadequate 

“This approach contradicts the message of solidarity that is being sent out both by the European Parliament and the European Commission in the current challenging situation,” the Labour delegation said.

They called for further talks with the representative entities for an agreement to be reached. 

The PL did not say how much the freelance interpreters are usually paid.