Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson this week criticised the salaries and benefits enjoyed by EU officials as too high…

Date: 06/02/1997

...and said they discredited the Union. Persson's attack came during an official visit to Luxembourg, where many Union civil servants are based. Similar criticism has also come from another of the EU's newest members, Finland, after it emerged that many Euro-officials earned more than the prime ministers of both countries.