EU: Members of the European Parliament voted yesterday to end the discredited system of travel allowances that currently permits them to supplement their salaries by tens of thousands of euros per year.
After years of mounting criticism, the MEPs voted overwhelmingly to end the system, in return for putting their salaries on a new legal footing.
Mr Pat Cox, president of the parliament, said: "We have done the business, we have brought reform, we have cleaned up our act." It was now up to the national governments in the Council of Ministers to agree to the package, he said.
In future, MEPs would have to produce receipts to claim travel expenses. At present, they are paid according to pre-determined rates derived from, what is termed, a fully flexible economy fare, regardless of the actual cost incurred.
An MEP claiming a return fare between Dublin and Brussels would be paid €1,217. Between Brussels and Strasbourg, the payment would be €1,456.
"Assuming that an MEP travels 40 weeks a year, Irish MEPs can make €1,000 on each return trip, so adding €40,000 to their salary," said Michiel van Hulten, a Dutch socialist MEP. But Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa said the difference between what he received from the European Parliament in travel expenses and the cost incurred was "not very much". He said that he would never fly on Ryanair.
As part of the reform package, the parliament and council have agreed on a uniform basic salary for every MEP, so that regardless of national origin they will all be paid the same amount.
Up to now, an MEP's salary has been tied to that of a member of his or her national parliament. Thus, an Irish MEP's basic wage matches that of an Irish TD, at €73,914. In contrast, a Spanish MEP earns less than €36,000.
Mr van Hulten said that allowances had been used to supplement the incomes of the less-well-paid MEPs. Pressure for reform has grown with the imminent enlargement of the EU, which would increase the disparity between MEPs' incomes.
MEPs voted yesterday to compromise on two other issues: the retirement ages for MEPs, which will be 63, and the taxation of their salaries.
All MEPs will receive a basic salary of €8,600 per month, which will be taxed at an EU rate. National governments can then choose to levy additional taxes.