Statute for MEPs
- (Photo: European Commission)
Currently, Members of the EU Parliament are paid by their national governments on the same basis as their colleagues in the national parliaments. They are also taxed at national level. This has lead to huge pay discrepancies between deputies, which became even greater with the enlargement (e.g. an Italian MEP earns about 12.000 Euros per month, whereas a Hungarian MEP only earns about 800 Euros).
In July 2005 the Council agreed to a single statute for all MEPs, following a proposal by the Parliament. with effect as from 2009. This statute will give the MEPs an equal salary, around 7,000 Euro per month, subject to a low community tax. Furthermore, the reform provided for refunds only for real travel costs. Member states have a possibility for adding a national taxation so MEP`s may be taxed the same way as their voters.
Notes
The Treaty of Nice introduced a qualified majority vote on the MEP's statute in the Council (Article 190.5 TEC).
Links
European Parliament adopts a single statute for MEPS: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5254742Rules of Procedures of the European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20060703+INDEX+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=ENMEPs adopt pay and perks reform: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4123550.stm (BBC)
