Over half of the European Members of Parliament have outside jobs

Where'd they all go? Now we know...

BRUSSELS – According To Transparency International, 53% of all Eurodeputies (eurodiputados in Spanish; the UK media call them EMPs, I believe) have jobs other than that for which they were elected. The fact was extracted from the statement of interests they are obliged to present to the European Parliament. The NGO calculates that these external jobs mean some €18,000,000 per year, all told, though Transparency International admits it is a difficult figure to validate, given that there are likely to be multiple errors in the EMPs statements.

The report was presented last Monday and its main message is quite clear: the obvious possibility of conflicts of interest.

Good pay

Salaries for the EMPs amount to €8,020 per month gross (€6,250 after tax in Belgium) plus €4,299 for office and other expenses. One would assume that this did not leave much room for outside employment – but 398 Eurodeputies take part in a total of 1,210 ‘extra-curricular’ activities, many of which are non-remunerated.

However, a glance through the figures (by Transparency International) reveals that there are several ways these figures have been calculated, which could skew the results – and do, as far as I can see. Much of it is the result of the EMPs not being clear about which boxes to tick on the form they were given by the Parliament. This is, after all, a new obligation on them – so, to give them the benefit of doubt, let’s just say that they, the figures, will be more accurate after the next European elections… Or as Daniel Freund, who oversees the Integrity section of Transparency International, says, “If the Eurodeputies have filled in the forms badly, these must be improved and we hope the Parliament will reflect on this.”

(Source: El País)