MEP Hans-Peter Martin: 'Elephant' Claim - Business Insider
. Disappointingly the expense claim is probably just for a book.
Maria Miller scandal: if you think Westminster
....The levels of expenses there are completely outrageous, and almost totally unmonitored. On top of their €7,957 monthly salary, MEPs get €4299 paid directly into their personal bank account for “general expenditure”, no questions asked, no receipts required. The system is so broken the EU actually refuses to pay it to anywhere but a personal account in the MEP’s name.
On top of that, they get €152 for every day they turn up in parliament – and €152 euros more if they vote more than 50 per cent of the time. This has led bonkers situations like the Romanian MEP who has never spoken and votes “yes” to literally everything. It’s Kafkaesque – as he votes “yes” at every division, he’s voted in a contradictory fashion at least 63 times, according to Der Spiegel. It’s a very strong possibility he’s just doing this to collect his attendance cash......
.........The problem is, the EU’s expenses system is disastrously, titanically corrupt, and MEPs (especially from countries where political graft is a given) will never accept the most basic levels of scrutiny and transparency. The inability of the EU to perform even the most basic housekeeping functions is a powerful argument for us being better off out. If they can’t fix this sort of thing, how on earth can we trust them to reform systems like CAP, or govern effectively at all?
Can somebody, anybody please get us out of this madhouse!
Hans-Peter Martin, a well-known Austrian member of the European Parliament, is to be investigated for expense claims of 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million) — including one mysterious claim listed only as "elephant"
. Disappointingly the expense claim is probably just for a book.
Martin is a former journalist who wrote for Der Spiegel before becoming an MEP in 1999. In 2004 he accused MEPs of padding their expense budgets, and began to led a list of independent candidates whose slogan is "Let's clean up in Brussels
Maria Miller scandal: if you think Westminster
....The levels of expenses there are completely outrageous, and almost totally unmonitored. On top of their €7,957 monthly salary, MEPs get €4299 paid directly into their personal bank account for “general expenditure”, no questions asked, no receipts required. The system is so broken the EU actually refuses to pay it to anywhere but a personal account in the MEP’s name.
On top of that, they get €152 for every day they turn up in parliament – and €152 euros more if they vote more than 50 per cent of the time. This has led bonkers situations like the Romanian MEP who has never spoken and votes “yes” to literally everything. It’s Kafkaesque – as he votes “yes” at every division, he’s voted in a contradictory fashion at least 63 times, according to Der Spiegel. It’s a very strong possibility he’s just doing this to collect his attendance cash......
.........The problem is, the EU’s expenses system is disastrously, titanically corrupt, and MEPs (especially from countries where political graft is a given) will never accept the most basic levels of scrutiny and transparency. The inability of the EU to perform even the most basic housekeeping functions is a powerful argument for us being better off out. If they can’t fix this sort of thing, how on earth can we trust them to reform systems like CAP, or govern effectively at all?
Comment