Annual individual MEPs' allowance set to increase to €275,000

The monthly allowance given to MEPs is set to increase by €1,500, with the Euro-parliamentarians arguing that these have remained unchanged since 2011, Brussels-based EUobserver reports.

The MEPs had last voted to boost their monthly allowance for staff and office expenses by €1,500 in 2011, mirroring a similar move the previous year. At the time, the vote was taken despite a widespread austerity drive in EU member states.

According to EUobserver, the plan is part of a broader staffing reshuffle and slated security measures at the European parliament following discussions by deputies in the budget committee.

MEPs currently receive an allowance of €21,379 per month, for expenses like assistants’ salaries, supplies and studies. Increasing it by €1,500 per month brings the annual allowance total to €275,000 per MEP – or €1 billion over the European Parliament’s five-year term.

The EUobserver reports that Liberal Belgian MEP Gerard Deprez, who drafted the committee’s report on the parliament’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2016, said the biggest political groups pushed for the increase.

“The [centre-right] EPP was in favour of an increase of €3,000 each month and the Socialists were a bit more moderate and wanted an increase of €1,500,” he said.

The two settled on €1,500 with other groups either against the increase - like the Greens - or remaining silent. Deprez, EUobserver reported, said some in the liberal group, including himself, supported the rise because allowances have not increased since 2011.