Salary
Members of the European Parliament receive EUR 8,995.39 per month. According to the EU community tax and accident insurance, there remains EUR 7,011.74, which is also still subject to tax in Germany. 19% of my salaries go to the federal association of Bündnis / 90 die Grünen as a so-called “mandate holder levy”. In addition to the monthly salary, apart from the corona pandemic, there are attendance fees of EUR 323 for each regular day of meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg (however, these have hardly been paid since March 2020). This lump sum is used to finance MEPs’ expenses on the days at the place of work or meeting shown in the calendar of the European Parliament for official activities. The daily allowance is intended to cover the additional costs for accommodation and meals.
Personnel costs
A monthly budget of EUR 25,620 is made available to all Members of Parliament to cover all staff costs. I use this to pay my employees in Brussels and Germany. In addition, we finance GREEN MPs from Germany a total of 4 positions for the German European group, whose personnel costs are passed on to all MPs. The personnel budget is not available to us personally, but is used solely to pay our employees for their work in the European Parliament. This budget is administered by the European Parliament or a paying agency in Germany. Assistants in the European Parliament are therefore employed directly by Parliament and receive their salaries from there. In the event that this budget is not exhausted, the money will automatically flow back to the European Parliament.
Office expenses
Members of parliament receive EUR 4,610 per month to cover their office costs. This money is used to compensate for all expenses incurred in the context of constituency and regional office work, including telephone costs, newspaper subscriptions from the region, all office supplies (including those in Brussels), travel and hotel costs, rent and equipment of the offices, technical equipment of the employees * inside etc. These funds are managed in a separate account and are strictly separated from my payments.
Political money
We MEPs have 40,000 euros at their disposal every year on request. This is used to finance political public relations activities. This money is used for publications, studies, scientific papers, conferences or events and is administered by the parliamentary group. We MEPs have to apply for these funds from the lump sum and justify the purpose, after which they are usually approved by the parliamentary group’s staff. These funds also flow back to Parliament if they are not exhausted by the end of the year.
Traveling expenses
In addition, MEPs can use a travel budget of a maximum of EUR 4,250, which can be spent on so-called “unofficial trips” per year. “Unofficial trips” include trips that are not organized by the European Parliament and that do not go to the constituency. In order to get these costs financed, we have to prove that these trips were in connection with the parliamentary mandate. The expenses will only be reimbursed afterwards if proof is provided.
Extra income
I do not have any additional income.
An overview of all lobbying appointments of the members of the Greens / EFA group can be found here: https://lobbycal.greens-efa-service.eu/all/ This site works with the LobbyCal open-source software, which anyone can download from Transparency International and use themselves.
