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On top of that, MEPs also get an extra Euro3,500 (Lm1,520) a year for other travel
Matthew Vella
Malta’s MEPs may have nothing to complain about their relatively low MEP salaries, equal to those of Maltese MPs but far lower than the rest of their European colleagues. That is because every week, Malta’s MEPs are pocketing an extra Euro1,000 (Lm434) just for covering the distance between Malta International Airport and Brussels, when they leave for work and return.
According to the European Parliament’s media director José Liberato, the travel costs of MEPs are currently refunded in the form of a flat-rate sum reflecting a formula based on the cost of an unrestricted economy-class return air ticket, the distance from the point of departure to Brussels or Strasbourg and the cost of travel to and from the airport of departure.
In the case of Maltese Members, the flat rate paid for each return air trip between Valletta and Brussels is Euro1542 – Euro522.50 for the plane ticket, Euro40 for travel to and from the airport and Euro475 for the distance component.
Although this system will be replaced by one in which the expenses refunded will be those actually incurred, once the draft Statute for Members enters into force, Malta’s MEPs currently cash in on an extra Euro1,000 (Lm434) a week just for flying to Brussels.
A travel agent said the average price for an unrestricted economy class return ticket to Brussels was approximately Lm165 (Euro380), including taxes, for which MEPs receive a maximum of Lm227 to cover the flight ticket.
Apart from a Lm17 allowance to cover the costs for travel to and from the airport, MEPS will receive Lm434 every week for the distance covered between Malta and Brussels, amounting to a total of around Lm1,700 every month.
The European Parliament’s spokesperson would not divulge the number of trips and the amounts actually paid to each Member, “as it would infringe on the right to privacy of MEPs. It is up to each Member to decide whether to provide such information.”
On top of that, MEPs also get an extra Euro3,500 (Lm1,520) a year for other travel.
It is still unsure whether former Air Malta chairman Louis Grech, today a socialist MEP for the Malta Labour Party, is in receipt of free Air Malta tickets as part of the national airline’s flight concessions for retired staff and former company directors.
According to the MEP, who would not deny whether he was in receipt of free Air Malta tickets, he had negotiated a commercially acceptable rate with the airline but Grech would not divulge any details about the fare he was actually paying to travel to Brussels weekly.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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