Europe remains in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, but MEPs have something to celebrate: they have managed to get an increase in reimbursements, remuneration and funds to pay employees, although there is a crisis and health costs are high throughout the Eurozone, writes Daily fact, quoted by Rador.
On 13 December, as a Christmas present, the Bureau of the Presidency laid its hands on it and implemented Article 69 of the Statute for Members of the European Parliament, which provides for an annual review of the amounts to which they are entitled in the exercise of their parliamentary office. allowance for general expenses, travel and subsistence expenses and the maximum amount to be reimbursed for parliamentary assistance expenses. ”
Growths that are not crumbling, because they are indexed annually based on Eurostat inflation. Thus, it happens that the allowances for general travel and subsistence expenses will increase by 4.4% from January 1, 2022. A nice gift for the elected, who receive 7,000 euros net per month as salary, in addition to various allowances.
We also learn from the Bureau of the Presidency that monthly spending on parliamentary assistance could increase by up to 1.9%, in line with the adjustment rate set by the EU Commission, to a ceiling of 26,107 euros. But beware, not in 2022, but already from July 1, 2021: basically, the adjustment is retroactive. And that’s not all. The annual review mechanism also covers the salaries and fees of local assistants according to a precise table, probably compared to the salaries of MEPs in different countries, and France, Austria, Belgium and Finland equal € 8,917, followed by Italy, Sweden, Germany and Denmark. The MEPs from Eastern Europe, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, who, with 3,117 euros, are behind the ranking of money growth, are penalized.
In Brussels, however, a lot of new employees have been budgeted: the European Parliament has already announced that next year it will hire 142 new internal and another 180 external workers, for a total of 322 new administrative staff. The proposed spending made members of the Council of Finance Ministers jump out of their seats.
Reading the figure, they sent a request for clarification to the Executive, stressing that those commitments “are not in line with the spirit of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) agreement”, and the Council, according to a statement, “expects Parliament The necessary transparency in determining its needs and providing the motivation “.
It is hard to blame, given that the European Parliament – according to its own internal budget – already has a large army of 7,820 employees scattered across the three headquarters in Brussels (5,039), Strasbourg (293), Luxembourg (2,188). Don’t worry, he says from the Palace: the budget – of over two billion euros – planned for 2022 will not be exceeded.
