Commissioners’ pay and perks hit 13m euro a year

Date: 07/02/02

By David Cronin

SALARIES and expenses for the 20 European commissioners cost the EU's taxpayers almost €13 million per year, budget chief Michaele Schreyer has revealed.

The German commissioner also disclosed that spending on staff at the institution's Brussels headquarters amounted to €1.2 billion for the 1999 financial year.

The Commission's buildings and equipment costs were €310 million for the same period, and the price tag for its delegations abroad was €222 million.

Schreyer gave out the data in response to a parliamentary question from British Conservative MEP Martin Callanan. Although Callanan sought a breakdown of the amount allocated to each individual commissioner for wages, expenses, pensions and insurance, Schreyer gave him only the aggregate sum.

'The answer was a bit sparse and it would have been nicer if it was fuller,' said Callanan.

'I don't see what the Commission has got to hide.'

He added that he had 'no hidden agenda' and was simply requesting the information for a constituent who had contacted him.

According to Schreyer, 'the only expenditure on advertising and publicity incurred by the Commission is publication costs in connection with inter-institutional competitions' for hiring staff.

Slightly more than €3 million was spent on such recruitment efforts in 1999, she said.

Salaries and expenses for the 20 European Commissioners cost the EU's taxpayers almost €13 million per year, Budget Commissioner Michaele Schreyer has revealed.