The European Parliament has seen a number of welcome changes to its expenses regime. This is at least partly 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.<\/p>\n
More information about my accounts and expenditure is available towards the end of this page<\/a>. What follows is a more detailed narrative account. (Details correct at June 2019.)<\/p>\n The monthly pre-tax salary of MEPs is \u20ac8,757.70 (as of 1 July 2018) which is the equivalent of an annual gross salary of \u20ac105,092. 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 \u20ac6,824.85. UK MEPs also pay National Insurance contributions under the UK system and the difference between EU and national tax, so the total amount of tax is as for an equivalent UK salary. The salary level is based on 38.5% of the basic salary of a judge at the European Court of Justice and is changed in line with that salary. This was the level agreed with national governments when the changes were introduced. MEPs do not vote separately on their own salary.<\/p>\n 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, for example, Poland and Italy. Scrapping this in favour of equal salaries helped push through some of the other reforms of the allowances and expenses system.<\/p>\n When the equal salary arrangement was voted upon it would have represented a decrease in wages for UK MEPs. The actual monthly salary received will vary according to the monthly exchange rate for countries outside the eurozone, such as the UK.<\/p>\n The European Parliament’s total budget represents about 1% of all EU expenditure. About 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.<\/p>\n This is formally called the General Expenditure Allowance. In 2019 this allowance is \u20ac4,513 per month. The precise amount received will depend on the variable exchange rate at the time of each payment. 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, unless prior permission has been sought, for example on the grounds of illness or for maternity leave.<\/p>\n Though there is no formal requirement from the Parliament to do so, I publish a summary of my annual general allowance expenses, as do the majority of UK MEPs. I also make available invoices\/receipts for expenditure items of \u00a325 and above. My political group in the European Parliament, Greens-EFA, has introduced its own code of conduct on transparency concerning General Expenditure Allowance and the European Parliament has also voted for changes to improve transparency, which will hopefully be implemented in the session starting in 2019.<\/p>\n This is formally called Parliamentary Assistance Allowance. The maximum amount available in 2019 is \u20ac24,943 per month. This has to be spent on ‘\u02dchuman resources’, people to assist Members in their Parliamentary work. It is not paid to the MEP themselves. It should be remembered that MEPs in the UK are elected to cover a region: the London Region currently covers 73 Westminster constituencies and has a population of over 7.5 million people. This allowance 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Parliamentary Assistance Allowance cannot be paid directly to the MEPs themselves and I use Linden Accountants<\/a> 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. Copies of all staff contracts are lodged with the European Parliament authorities, as required by the rules.<\/p>\n 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 to the European Parliament. These are reviewed by the Parliamentary authorities and formally signed off if correct.<\/p>\n I currently have five full-time and one part-time members of staff, who are based either in my London constituency or in Brussels. None of them are relatives. Any full-time stagiaire (intern) is remunerated under the European Parliament rules.<\/p>\n Information about staff and paybands is available towards the end of this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because MEPs are required to move frequently between their constituencies and the European Parliament’s two main places of work (Brussels and Strasbourg), they can claim a subsistence allowance to cover expenses such as hotel rooms and\/or flat rental and meals. This allowance is a payment of \u20ac320 per day, and is payable for each 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. 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.<\/p>\n When we are on official visits outside the EU, we are paid 50% of that daily rate plus our accommodation costs. During official plenaries of the Parliament, the amount is halved if a Member is not present for 50% of the roll-call votes.<\/p>\n This allowance is for travel to the Parliament both in Brussels and in Strasbourg and for official meetings.<\/p>\n Under the current rules(1) on presentation of receipts MEPs are refunded the actual cost of any travel tickets purchased by them 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 such as any taxi or left luggage costs. I am using mine to pay for in-London constituency travel and UK travel, which used to be payable from the General Allowance in the previous Parliamentary term. I also offset my carbon emissions for any air travel – not a solution but the money is used to help fund sustainable development projects.<\/p>\n Under the current rules, travel within the UK should now be claimed directly from the European Parliament and MEPs 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. I have not claimed for travel within the UK for at least five years.<\/p>\n Each member can claim up to \u20ac4,454 per year for personal travel allowance, payable against receipts\/proofs of expenditure. This is intended to enable members to accept invitations outside our usual places of work or make their own fact-finding journeys outside their own Member State.<\/p>\n Under the 2009 statute, MEP pensions from that date 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.<\/p>\n <\/a> Spending summaries, including General Expenditure Allowance, are available as follows:<\/p>\n Jean’s receipts are published every six months in two documents, each one spanning three months, for ease of reference. Receipts for Jean’s General Allowance expenditure are available as follows:<\/p>\n European Parliament certificates for Jean’s Parliamentary Assistance Allowance:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (1) Which began in July 2009.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Parliament has seen a number of welcome changes to its expenses regime. This is at least partly 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. More information about my accounts and expenditure is available towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":389,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\nSo, what are MEPs paid?<\/h3>\n
Why aren’t MEPs paid the same as MPs?<\/h3>\n
Parliamentary allowances<\/h3>\n
Office Costs<\/h3>\n
Staff Costs<\/h3>\n
Daily Attendance Allowance<\/h3>\n
Travel Allowance<\/h3>\n
Personal Travel Allowance<\/h3>\n
Pension Scheme<\/h3>\n
Accounts<\/h3>\n
\nJean’s accounts have been verified by independent accountants. Their reports are available for the following periods:<\/p>\n\n
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