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Parliament has repeatedly expressed a will to reform its salary and expenses package, most recently in a resolution adopted on 22 April 2004. However, because agreement is needed from both the Parliament and the Council of Ministers, resolution has so far proven impossible. Those countries whose MEPs would receive a pay increase as a result of salary harmonisation - notably Germany - have repeatedly vetoed these proposals in Council. [1]
The arrangement by which each MEP receives the same salary as a member of his own national parliament was originally intended as a stop-gap measure while a unified rate was agreed. But this has become a serious sticking-point in the Parliament. By law, salaries should be harmonised so that all MEPs receive the same, but this has proved politically difficult. Any figure selected (for instance, the average of current rates) would mean a big cut for some and a big increase for others, which is hard to justify.
A recent proposal was to fix the salary at half that of a judge at the European Court of Justice. When this was first suggested two years ago, it was, on average, only a slight increase for MEPs; but the measure has not yet been agreed, and the pay rise would be much more substantial if it were implemented now.
A possible flat salary of € 90 000 has recently been proposed, but this was rejected.
Members declare their financial interests, which are published annually in a register and available on the Internet.
Around a third of MEPs have previously held national parliamentary mandates, and over 10% have ministerial experience at a national level. Among the 177 MEPs with such experience elected in 1999 were six prime ministers and three former members of the European Commission. Many more MEPs have held office at a regional level in their home countries.
Current MEPs also include former judges, trade union leaders, media personalities, actors, soldiers, singers, athletes, and political activists.
Many outgoing MEPs move into other political office. A remarkably high proportion of European countries' recent heads of government have previously served in the Parliament.
The so-called dual mandate, where an individual is a member of both his or her national parliament and the European Parliament, is officially discouraged and has been prohibited by a number of EU countries. Despite this, some members do hold a dual mandate, including a number of Italian MEPs. The number of dual-mandated members continues to fall.
Around a third of MEPs are women, a higher percentage than most national parliaments. This figure varies considerably among the various national delegations, however. Of UK members, for instance, approaching half of the Labour MEPs are female, compared to only about 8% of Conservative members.
The European Parliament has a remarkably high turnover of MEPs. For instance, after the 1994 elections, 57.5% of the 567 elected members had not been members in the prior Parliamentary session. Only 14 of them have served continuously since the first elections in 1979, and not one has served continuously for longer.
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