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Statute for MEPs

(Photo: European Commission)

At present, 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.

On 1^st February 2003, the Treaty of Nice introduced a qualified majority vote on the MEP's statute in the Council.
The EU Parliament is working on a final draft, which will give all MEPs an equal salary, around 8,000 Euro per month, with a low community tax.
Sweden, Denmark, and possibly Finland and the UK are expected to use an opt-out (derogation) permitting additional national taxation, which would bring the MEP salaries more into line with the salary of national MPs.
The reform would mean less salary for those coming from the highest paying countries, like Italy, Austria, the United Kingdom and Germany, but an increase for most others.

For the Council, it is a condition for adopting the new salary scheme that the Parliament cleans up its act on “transport abuse”. At present, MEPs are refunded for business class tickets once a week for attending the Parliament meetings even if they travel economy class.

The future

After the proposed reform, MEPs will be reimbursed only for real travel costs plus a small distance allowance to cover extra taxi costs, family travel, etc.

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