The ‘gravy plane’: how MEPs pocket up to EUR 57k

Date: 05/06/03

By Martin Banks

EUROPEAN Voice can today reveal the full scale of the controversial expenses system enjoyed by MEPs.

Official figures circulating in the European Parliament show that members can claim well over €2,000 for a return journey from their home to Brussels even though, in reality, they may have paid much less.

The EU's elected lawmakers are often criticized for being reimbursed for expenses they have not incurred - a system which enables them to effectively double their salaries.

They can claim the equivalent of a standard economy class ticket even if they actually travelled by budget airline.

Deputies have to show a boarding pass but not a receipt.

German and Italian MEPs - who are the best paid and are the most opposed to the proposed MEPs statute which would reform the current pay system - can make huge profits under the present arrangements.

A German MEP travelling from Berlin pays €150 for a Berlin-Brussels-Berlin ticket on the German airline Lufthansa and €1,300 for a Berlin-Strasbourg-Brussels ticket, also on Lufthansa. Working on the basis of 29 weeks per year in Brussels and 12 weeks in Strasbourg, the net profit per year is a huge €28,500 - tax free.

The potential saving to the MEP could, in fact, be a great deal more since advance booking is likely to be much cheaper.

In the case of an Italian deputy living in Rome, flying Virgin Express to Brussels (fare found last week for a June flight: €150 return), leads to a saving of €1,500 per round trip.

Flying KLM Exel from Rome to Strasbourg at €350 per return flight (again, fare found last week for the July Parliamentary session), leads to a saving of €1,150 per return trip.

This amounts to a total saving, based on 29 weeks in Brussels and 12 in Strasbourg, of €57,300 per year - tax free, and even more if booked far enough in advance.

However, not all MEPs can benefit from the current system. Dutch members, for instance, have a code of conduct requiring them to pay back to the European Parliament all the travel money they do not use.

Dutch Socialist member Michiel van Hulten has paid back €23,000 since he was elected in 1999.

He said: "As far as I am aware, this is the first time these figures have been known. The truth of the matter is that most MEPs are blissfully unaware of how much is being paid out on travel expenses.

"It is absolutely shocking, particularly at a time when air fares have come down so much in recent years, that MEPs are still being reimbursed for the full cost of an economy fare from their home to Brussels and Strasbourg.

"Is it any wonder that most people still have a gravy train image of MEPs? And now we have the 'gravy plane'."

The deputies have agreed to clean up their expenses regime.

Under a deal currently being considered by the Parliament, members would have to produce a receipt and be reimbursed only for expenses incurred.

But the long-awaited reform looks like being scuppered because agreement cannot be reached on another issue: how much tax they should pay.

A proposal for MEPs to pay tax to the European Community, which has a sliding scale of rates generally much lower than those of member states, is unlikely to be accepted by the EU member states. It left one deputy saying:"The whole thing looks like it is dead in the water."

Article reveals how MEPs can make use of their controversial system of expenses.