It is sunday afternoon, and apparently our nation’s leaders have had quite a fruitful weekend. Most mainstream media are all over them meeting in Berlin; and yes they have agreed on something, there is more regulation to come.
However, also the biggest blog in the Netherlands, www.GeenStijl.nl, usually very busy bullying local politicians and promoting silly games, suddenly got all interested in the European Union. Their article was a response to an article by David Craig, published on the website of the Times, called: ‘How to make a million in five years (become a Euro MP)’. He claims that due to their high salaries, a lot of declarations, free insurances and all kinds of other extras, a Euro MP with a good accountant, can save about 200.000 pounds a year, amounting to a total of million for a full term in Brussels and/or Strasbourg. 
It is quite a provocative piece of writing, and I personally do not have the experience nor the money to judge to what extend his point is right; what I do know, is that the one time in my life I had a first class train ticket, it was paid for by the Commission. Allegedly, the Commission wants nothing but the best treatment for its ‘guests’. And if you look at it from this perspective: although salary arrangements like this might scare the voter away, you will never have to be afraid there will be a shortage of candidates for the EP…
(21 votes, average: 3.10 out of 5)
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Let’s see if the MEPs who abused President Klaus last week for questioning the integrity will be as loud in their condemnation of this kind of corruption. Just joking!
Hey Matts -
What’s your main point here?
That MEPs are paid too much or that the Commission spends wastefully?
Do you know how the salaries are determined? I’m wondering if you’d come accross any information on that during your reading. My guess is that it’s determined according to the average pay for similar posts elsewhere.
Dear Mats,
David Craig is quite right: the salaries of European parliamentarians are incredible. That’s why the party for which I head the list, i.e. the Socialist Party (SP), asks its representatives to donate most of their income to the party. In my case, it means that I shall earn a lot less than I do at the moment as civil servant for the Dutch government. I feel though that this is the only way I could possibly face my voters: I do not want to be elected to get rich, I want to be a true representative of those who, especially during the current economic crisis, deserve to be protected!
Good luck with your blogs!
Dennis de Jong
I was equally surprised at the 1st class ticket! Even sat in 2nd class on my ride to Brussels, just out of habit
This gives the expression “gravy train” a whole new meaning