The European Parliament’s expenses regime for Members has been heavily criticised, and rightly, for its lack of effective control. For a long time it was a system based largely on trust and different countries have different cultures concerning these issues.
It is gradually becoming more accountable; not least because the Greens have made continuing efforts to promote change and because of the cross-party Campaign for Parliamentary Reform supported by many Members within the Parliament. The new Parliamentary term, which began in July 2009, has therefore seen a number of welcome changes to the expenses regime.
More information about my accounts and expenditure is available towards the end of this page.
So, what are MEPs paid?
The monthly pre-tax salary of all MEPs within the new statute from July 2009 is €7,665, which is the equivalent of an annual salary of €91,980. The cost is met from the European Parliament's budget and is subject to an EU tax and accident insurance contribution, after which the monthly salary is €5,963. UK MEPs also pay National Insurance contributions under the UK system and the difference between EU and national tax. The salary level is based on 38.5% of the basic salary of a judge at the European Court of Justice.
Prior to July 2009 MEPs were paid at a rate equivalent to MPs in the country they represent, leading to huge discrepancies between MEPs from eg Poland and Italy. Scrapping this in favour of equal salaries helped push through some of the recent reform of the allowances and expenses system. However, not all Member States have agreed to join the new system, so there are still some differences.
When the new equal salary arrangement was voted upon it would have represented a decrease in wages for UK MEPs. However, changes in the exchange rate mean this is not the case at present. The monthly salary received will vary according to the monthly exchange rate for countries outside the eurozone.
Parliamentary allowances
The European Parliament's total budget represents about 1% of all EU expenditure. One fifth of that 1% is allocated to MEPs total expenditure at present. Each Member of the European Parliament is entitled to claim the following allowances, which are paid from the Parliament's budget.
General Expenditure Allowance
In 2009 this allowance is €4.202 per month. It is used for expenditure such as constituency office rent, telephone and postal charges, and IT costs. The allowance is halved if an MEP fails to attend at least half of the Strasbourg plenary sessions, without seeking prior permission on the grounds of illness, for example.
Though there is no formal requirement from the Parliament to do so, I publish a summary of my annual general expenses. This term, I am also making available invoices/receipts for major items of expenditure to account for at least 50% of the General Expenditure Allowance in line with the position that Greens have promoted in the European Parliament.
Parliamentary Assistance (formerly Secretarial Allowance)
The maximum payment at present is €17,540 per month. This has to be spent on "human resources", people to assist Members in their Parliamentary work This can cover staff employed on a long-term (the 5 years that a Parliament lasts) or temporary basis, and covers other possibilities such as consultancy and research.
It also covers all the related costs such as national insurance, tax, pension, training and staff expenses should they be asked to travel to Strasbourg, for example. MEPs can also use it to cover expenses for those on work experience with us. Members have to demonstrate to Parliament's authorities that our staff are covered for tax and social security payments.
Under the new rules, the Parliamentary Assistance Expenses cannot be paid directly to the MEPs themselves and I use the Green MEP Trust as my approved Paying Agent to administer these UK staff resources and contracts. The contracts for my Brussels based staff and stagiaires (interns) are administered and paid directly by the Parliament.
My contract with my Paying Agent is regulated by the Parliamentary authorities. At the end of each calendar year, through my Paying Agent, I provide a detailed reconciliation of the monies received for Parliamentary Assistance.
I currently have three full-time members of staff (two in my London constituency and one in Brussels) and one additional part-time staff member in London. None of them are relatives. I also usually have one stagiaire (intern) in Brussels and sometimes another for Strasbourg weeks, as well as using consultants from time to time for specific projects.
In 2008 my Secretarial Allowance was £145,068, a sum used to pay staff wages as well as costs like National Insurance contributions, staff training and recruitment. Information about pay bands for staff working for me in 2008 is available here.
Daily Attendance Allowance
For any day that we attend an official Parliament meeting or are present at an EU institution (Luxembourg, Brussels or Strasbourg) during an official working day for work purposes, we are paid an attendance allowance of €298. This should cover all expenses such as hotel rooms and/or flat rental, meals, taxi fares etc. No receipts are required as this is a lump-sum payment, made if we sign the official register or the attendance list at the official meeting. During official plenaries of the Parliament, the amount is halved if a Member is not present for 50% of the roll-call votes. I attended 93% of plenaries over the 2004-2009 parliamentary term. For 2008 I received €39,462.50.
Travel Allowance
This allowance is for travel to the Parliament both in Brussels and in Strasbourg and for official meetings.
The Green Group has been at the forefront of efforts to change the previous system of a flat rate travel allowance and this has now been abolished. Under the new rules (which began in July 2009) on presentation of receipts MEPs are refunded the actual cost of their travel tickets plus time and distance allowances for attending official Parliamentary meetings. These additional payments can still be surprisingly high. They are designed to cover travel costs to the point of departure and incidental expenses en route. I am using mine to pay for in-London constituency travel, which used to be paid for from the General Allowance in the previous term.
Under the new rules, travel within the UK should now be claimed directly from the European Parliament and we are entitled to 24 journeys a year. This would certainly not cover the number of constituency journeys I make in a year so that is why I am using the time and distance travel allowance monies for those. Anything outside London will generally be claimed for separately.
Under the previous system, MEPs were entitled to retain the difference between the actual cost of travel and the amount claimable. Sometimes there was a difference between the payment and the real cost and the Member was able keep this. Under this previous system I offset my carbon emissions for plane travel from my travel surplus - not a solution but the money was used to help fund sustainable development projects. My travel surplus was also used to pay for additional travel to meetings and events within the UK outside London so I didn't have to ask hard-up organisations to cover my expenses, or for initiatives with an international dimension. For 2008, I received €31,642.41 under the system, with additional external delegation travel at cost.
I travel by train wherever possible and, while recognising that off-setting is not a solution in itself, I do think that, when combined with serious effort to choose the most sustainable form of transport for any given journey, it can have a role to play. Under the new rules, I shall use the remaining time and distance travel monies (after in-London travel) to pay for offsetting and make up any difference personally.
Personal Travel Allowance
Each member has a personal travel allowance of €4,148 a year to enable them to accept invitations outside our usual places of work or make their own fact-finding journeys outside their own Member State. We can claim the real-costs by presenting the appropriate proofs and invitation if relevant. I have recently used some of mine to fulfil a speaking engagement for the Italian Anti-Poverty Network.
Pension Scheme
Under the new statute, MEP pensions are now dealt with by the European Parliament and the old voluntary additional pensions scheme has been abolished for newly elected MEPs. I was never a member of this scheme. The Green Group tabled proposals that this additional fund should not be bailed out from the European Parliament budget.
Accounts
The Green MEP Trust accounts have been verified by an independent firm of auditors and you can read their certificate for the year ending December 31st 2008 here.
A breakdown of my General Allowance expenditure for 2008 is available here.
In 2008 my Secretarial Allowance (renamed Parliamentary Assistance in 2009) was £145,068, a sum used to pay staff wages as well as costs like National Insurance contributions, staff training and recruitment. Information about pay bands for staff working for me in 2008 is available here.
Further information relating to 2009 will be made available in due course.
References
1. Bart Staes Report
2. New Statute for Members