The latest research carried out by the think-tank Open Europe, the result of which was released recently, shows the extent of the cost of the unelected European Commissioners in Brussels to taxpayers across Europe. The basic salaries of Commissioners are all in excess of e230,000, without taking into account the generous living allowance and “entertainment expenses”.
On top of this, Open Europe has discovered that each Commissioner is awarded a generous pension package, also at the taxpayers’ expense, but also at a time when the pensions of the citizens of Europe are being decimated by the worldwide recession.
Figures of note include the “Entertainment allowance”, which ranges from over e7,000 for Commissioners and up to e17,000 for President Barroso, and the “Residency allowance” which ranges from e35,000 to e43,000. It is also interesting to see that Jose Manuel Barroso, the unelected President of the Commission, receives a salary almost identical to that of Barack Obama, the democratically elected President of America (approximately e293,000 p/a)
Most staggering of all are the pension plans for each Commissioner, which includes a “resettlement allowance” of over e19,000 each and a personal “three-year transitional allowance”, which ranges from e286,000 for newest Commissioner Caroline Ashton to e439,000 for President Barroso. This equates to around e23 million in payouts for Commissioner pension funds if (as speculated) 20 Commissioners retire in October.
Malta’s Commissioner Dr Borg earns an annual income of e238,919, with an annual entertainment allowance of e35,837, and his total salary for his time in office would be e1,410,204.
These latest figures show how out of touch the Commission is with the peoples of Europe. At a time when people across Europe are struggling to make ends meet, a part of their wage packet is supporting grossly inflated packages of unelected officials in Brussels. While people lose their own pensions, they must pay for the extravagant pensions of the Brussels elite.
Libertas’ core objectives include identifying e10 billion worth of savings from the EU budget, and for Brussels to slim down to a leaner, more efficient decision-making system for the benefit of the people of Europe.
Libertas.eu is a pro-European movement committed to bringing more democracy, accountability and transparency to European Union law-making institutions.
In June, Libertas will run local candidates across the 27 member countries of the European Union in the EP elections. Libertas.eu seeks to have the European voters’ mandate to reform the EU. This is the first time a pan-European party will contest the European elections.
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Ms Gauci is leader of Libertas Malta and is a candidate in the European Parliament elections