To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much each Member of the European Parliament is entitled to claim per year for staff costs; and whether the level of funding made available to MEPs forms part of their reform agenda.
Answered on
17 June 2015
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) may choose their own staff, within a maximum budget set by the European Parliament of €21,379 per MEP per month. None of these funds are paid to the MEPs themselves. Since 2009, MEPs may no longer have close relatives among their staff.
The British Government has pushed hard for reform of MEPs’ salary and allowances in order to introduce transparency and accountability. There has been some progress. For example, MEPs must attend and vote at sessions of the European Parliament to receive their full allowances and may reclaim travel costs on presentation of receipts only.
In general, the Government is pushing for greater transparency and budgetary restraint in EU spending. The EU institutions have an important role to play and should be held to the same resource constraints as Member States.
The Government achieved the first ever reduction in the EU’s budget in 2014 which shows that change is possible.