The Cost of Power
What we pay for the European Parliament. What we can check. And what we can’t.
In one line. Every Member of the European Parliament receives 4,950 euro a month for office expenses: as a flat rate, with no obligation to keep receipts, to publish them or to return what is not spent. In 2018 the Parliament’s Bureau rejected all three of these obligations. And the Parliament is only one of the European institutions we pay for.
1. At a glance: five numbers
Five figures. All official. None of them, on its own, tells the whole bill.
4,950 € a month
A flat rate, paid into a dedicated account. Receipts, audit, publication and repayment: all optional (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Articles 43–47)
359 € a day
Obtained by signing the attendance register (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances)
11,255.26 € a month before tax
8,772.70 € net. Paid in full even to a Member who never turns up (Statute for Members, Article 10)
up to 32,072 € a month
The budget for each Member’s staff (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances)
113.8 million € a year
What would be saved by holding the Strasbourg sessions in Brussels (European Court of Auditors, 2014)
Above all of this sits the budget of the European Parliament: 2,604,856,587 euro for 2026. Divided by 720 Members, that is 3.6 million euro a year for every seat (European Parliament budget 2026).
Before anyone objects. The figures measure different things and must not be added together. 11,255.26 euro is the latest salary the Parliament states explicitly, the 2025 one; salaries are due to be index-linked by 2.2% from July 2026 (Parliament resolution of 30 April 2026, paragraph 3). The 3.6 million per seat is the cost of the whole institution divided by the number of Members, not what each of them receives. The 113.8 million is a 2014 estimate: no one has produced a more recent one since.
2. And that’s just the Parliament
The European Parliament is one of the 7 institutions of the Union. Then there are 9 bodies, more than 30 decentralised agencies, more than 20 other agencies and organisations, and 4 interinstitutional services. (European Union, “Types of institutions, bodies and agencies”)
The institutions: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the European Court of Auditors.
The bodies: the European External Action Service, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, the European Investment Bank, the European Ombudsman, the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Data Protection Board, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre.
Then more than thirty decentralised agencies, from Amsterdam to Lisbon, from Warsaw to Parma. Around 60,000 people work for the Union (European Union, “Types of institutions, bodies and agencies”).
In the 2026 budget, European public administration alone is worth 13,277.5 million euro (EU budget 2026, heading 7). The Parliament accounts for about a fifth of it.
This dossier opens a single drawer. The others are still closed.
3. What an MEP receives
An MEP’s salary is a fraction of a European judge’s. A fraction worth 135,000 euro a year.
The salary
The Statute for Members, Article 10, sets the salary at 38.5% of the basic salary of a judge at the Court of Justice, the Union’s highest court, in Luxembourg. Since July 2009 it has been the same for everyone, whatever their country.
For 2025 the Parliament states 11,255.26 euro a month before tax and 8,772.70 euro net after EU tax and contributions (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances): 135,063.12 euro a year before tax.
And the judge? A judge of the Court of Justice receives a basic salary of 112.5% of that of the highest-ranking EU official, grade 16, third step (Regulation (EU) 2016/300, Article 2). From 1 July 2025 that official’s basic salary is 25,986.17 euro a month (2025 annual update of remuneration). The judge, therefore: 29,234.44 euro a month in basic salary, more than 350,000 euro a year. On top of that come a residence allowance equal to 15% of the basic salary and a monthly entertainment allowance (Regulation (EU) 2016/300, Articles 5 and 7).
The cross-check: 38.5% of 29,234.44 euro is exactly 11,255.26 euro, the MEP’s salary.
The daily subsistence allowance
359 euro a day in 2026, as a flat rate, for subsistence on days of parliamentary activity. It is obtained by signing a register. On plenary voting days, a Member who takes part in fewer than half of the roll-call votes receives half of it, 179.50 euro (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances).
General expenses: 4,950 euro a month
4,950 euro a month, 59,400 a year, for an office, telephone, computer, documentation and representation (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Articles 43–46). For 2026 the amount has not been index-linked (Parliament report on the 2027 estimates, paragraph 4). No one checks how it is spent: that is chapter 6.
Staff: what “parliamentary assistance” means
It means the people who work for the Member: accredited assistants in Brussels and Strasbourg, on a Parliament contract; local assistants in the country of election; trainees; outside service providers. The Member chooses whom to hire. The Parliament pays: up to 32,072 euro a month per Member in 2026, 384,864 euro a year (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances). Hiring close relatives is forbidden (European Parliament, rules on staff).
In total: 252,014,168 euro spent in 2025, 273,732,353 euro budgeted for 2026 (European Parliament budget 2026). For 720 Members, 2025 spending comes to about 350,000 euro each: 91% of the maximum. The staff budget is almost entirely used.
Travel, end of mandate, pension
- Travel: reimbursed against supporting documents, up to the cost of a business-class air fare, a first-class rail fare or 0.59 euro per kilometre by car. For activities outside the country of election, an annual ceiling of 5,638 euro (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances). In 2026 Members’ ordinary travel is worth 79,160,000 euro (European Parliament budget 2026).
- End of mandate: a transitional allowance equal to the salary, one month for every year of mandate, from 6 to 24 months. If the former Member takes up another mandate or a public office, it is paid only up to that day (Statute for Members, Article 13). And a Member who is not re-elected, after at least six months in office, may receive half the general expenditure allowance for a further three months (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Article 44).
- Pension: from age 63, 3.5% of the salary for every year of mandate, up to 70%. It is due “irrespective of any other pension” (Statute for Members, Article 14). It is paid from the Union budget.
What a seat can end up costing
Salary + general expenses + staff budget: 135,063.12 + 59,400 + 384,864 = 579,327.12 euro a year. Before subsistence allowances, travel, pensions, offices, interpreters and security.
Before anyone objects. This is not what the Member pockets: the staff budget pays other people, and on average 91% of it is used. It adds a 2025 salary to 2026 amounts. The real cost of each seat could only be calculated precisely with data for each individual Member, which the Parliament does not publish.
4. Five years without ever setting foot in the chamber
An MEP can stay out of the plenary chamber for five years. The salary arrives all the same: in full, every month, until the last day.
Neither the Statute for Members nor its implementing measures require a minimum attendance to keep the salary. The salary is tied to the mandate, not to days in the chamber (Statute for Members, Article 10).
Let us apply the rules to a Member who, in five years, never turns up.
| What | What is lost | What is received anyway |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | nothing | 675,315.60 € before tax over 5 years (11,255.26 € × 60 months) |
| Daily subsistence allowance | all of it: without a signature it is not due | — |
| General expenses | half (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Article 45) | 148,500 € over 5 years (2,475 € a month), with no obligation to keep receipts |
| Staff | nothing | up to 1,924,320 € over 5 years for the Member’s staff |
| End of mandate | nothing | 67,531.56 €: six months’ salary (Statute for Members, Article 13) |
| Pension | nothing | from age 63, 1,969.67 € a month for life: 17.5% of the salary (Statute for Members, Article 14) |
Our calculations, on the official amounts (2025 salary, 2026 general expenses and staff).
And if it is two, three, four terms?
The pension grows by 3.5% of the salary for every year of mandate, up to 70% (Statute for Members, Article 14). The end-of-mandate allowance grows by one month for every year, up to 24 (Statute for Members, Article 13). Here too, no rule requires attendance.
| Terms | Years of mandate | Pension from age 63, for life | End-of-mandate allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 1,969.67 € a month | 6 months: 67,531.56 € |
| 2 | 10 | 3,939.34 € a month | 10 months: 112,552.60 € |
| 3 | 15 | 5,909.01 € a month | 15 months: 168,828.90 € |
| 4 | 20 | 7,878.68 € a month: the maximum, 70% of the salary | 20 months: 225,105.20 € |
Our calculations on the 2025 salary (11,255.26 € a month).
Twenty years without ever setting foot in the chamber are worth, under the rules, 7,878.68 euro a month for life, “irrespective of any other pension” (Statute for Members, Article 14).
We are not saying that such a Member exists. We are saying that the rules allow it. And that the people who wrote them sit in that chamber.
Before anyone objects. This is a limit case, built by applying the rules, not a portrait of a person. Part of a Member’s work takes place outside the chamber. Justified absences (illness, serious family reasons, authorised missions, maternity) do not reduce the general expenditure allowance (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Article 45). A Member who, at the end of the mandate, is entitled to both the transitional allowance and the pension must choose one of them (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Article 50).
5. The value of a signature
In Italy, a member of the Chamber of Deputies who misses the votes loses 206.58 euro a day. In the European Parliament, the daily allowance is obtained with a signature.
The signature in the register shows that the Member came by. It does not show how long they stayed, or what they did.
On voting days there is only one filter: a Member who takes part in fewer than half of the roll-call votes receives half the allowance (European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances). Not all votes are roll-call votes. On days without votes, there is no filter at all.
And the general expenditure allowance? Article 45 of the Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members requires half of it to be repaid by a Member who, without justification, misses at least half of the plenary sitting days in a year. How often does this happen? In 2020, answering an access-to-documents request, the Parliament reported a single Member above the threshold in the period examined, 2019 and the first months of 2020 (European Parliament reply on AsktheEU, 2020).
And in Italy?
| Italian Chamber of Deputies | Italian Senate | European Parliament | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subsistence allowance | 3,503.11 € a month | 3,500 € a month | 359 € a day (2026) |
| Absence from the chamber | −206.58 € for every day of absence from sittings with votes | deduction for every day of absence | half the allowance, on voting days, for those who miss half of the roll-call votes |
| Who counts as “present” | those who take part in at least 30% of the day’s votes | those who take part in at least 30% of the day’s votes | those who sign the register |
| Other absences | up to −500 € a month for committees, boards, delegations | deductions for committees and boards with votes | −50% of the general expenditure allowance only after missing more than half of plenary sittings without justification |
| Expenses for the mandate | 3,690 € a month: up to half against receipts, the rest as a flat rate | 2,090 € accounted for every four months + 2,090 € flat rate + 1,650 € flat rate for general expenses | 4,950 € a month, all flat rate |
Sources: Italian Chamber of Deputies, “Il trattamento economico” (in Italian); Italian Senate, “Trattamento economico” (in Italian); European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances; Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members.
Rome, too, has sums paid without receipts, and they are not small. But in Rome at least part of the money must be documented. In Brussels, none of it.
Before anyone objects. A monthly allowance (Italy) and a daily one (Europe) cannot be compared euro for euro: what we compare are the rules. We do not publish attendance rankings: that would require complete official data, and voting in the chamber does not measure all of a Member’s work. No names. The rules are enough.
6. 4,950 euro a month. Receipts? No one has to show them to you.
44.4 million euro of public money in 2026. Every month, as a flat rate, into an account in the Member’s name. And no citizen can demand to see how it is spent.
What it is
The general expenditure allowance is meant to pay for the Member’s office in their home country, telephone, computer, supplies, documentation and representation (Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, Article 46). 4,950 euro a month, 59,400 a year, almost 300,000 euro over a mandate. In the Parliament’s budget: 42,558,320 euro spent in 2025, 44,410,000 euro budgeted for 2026 (European Parliament budget 2026).
The rules, article by article
The Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members, a decision of the Parliament’s Bureau, say:
- Article 43: it is paid as a flat-rate sum. The Member may claim all or part of it.
- Article 45: it is paid directly to the Member.
- Article 47: into a dedicated account; responsibility for its use lies with the Member alone; keeping detailed accounts, having them checked by an auditor, publishing them: that is the Member’s choice.
- No article requires unspent money to be returned.
What was rejected
On 2 July 2018 the Parliament’s Bureau, that is, the President and the Vice-Presidents, voted on reforming this allowance. Only one obligation was approved: the separate bank account. Rejected: the obligations to return unspent sums, to keep receipts, to have expenses audited and to publish them (Transparency International EU, 3 July 2018).
Why it matters
For travel, tickets are required. For staff, the Parliament pays, on contract. For general expenses, a bank account is enough.
The right of access to documents does not help. In 2018 the General Court of the European Union ruled for the Parliament against a group of journalists seeking documents on Members’ subsistence allowances, travel and assistance: more than four million documents, protected as personal data (General Court of the EU, judgment of 25 September 2018).
An Italian citizen can find out how much their MEP receives. They cannot demand to know how it is spent.
Before anyone objects. We are not saying this money is badly spent. We are saying that no one outside the Parliament can check. Some Members voluntarily publish an audit or a statement of compliance (European Parliament, page on transparency of the general expenditure allowance). The 2018 judgment concerned subsistence allowances, travel and assistance, not general expenses.
7. Strasbourg: the most expensive move in Europe
Twelve times a year the European Parliament leaves Brussels for four days in Strasbourg. Stopping would save 113.8 million euro a year. So says the European Court of Auditors.
The Treaties (Protocol No 6) provide that twelve plenary sessions a year are held in Strasbourg; committees and additional plenary sessions in Brussels; the General Secretariat in Luxembourg. Three cities, one institution.
What it costs
In July 2014 the European Court of Auditors calculated that moving Strasbourg’s activities to Brussels would save 113.8 million euro a year, 6.3% of the Parliament’s budget at the time. As a one-off, 616 million more if the Strasbourg buildings were sold, a 40 million cost if not. Merging Luxembourg as well, total annual savings would be between 97.4 and 127.2 million (European Court of Auditors, 2014).
In 2013 the Parliament itself estimated the cost of the three seats at between 156 and 204 million euro a year (Parliament resolution of 20 November 2013).
How much it pollutes
Between 11,000 and 19,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year for travel between the three seats (Parliament resolution of 20 November 2013; repeated in the 2018 discharge resolution, adopted on 13 May 2020). In 2026 the Parliament wrote that “nearly two-thirds” of its carbon footprint comes from transporting people (Parliament resolution of 30 April 2026, paragraph 24).
Why it does not change
On 20 November 2013 the Parliament asked to be able to decide its own seat: 483 in favour, 141 against, 34 abstentions. On 30 April 2026 it said so again: “having a single seat for the Parliament could reduce the financial and environmental costs”; but “permanent changes would require a Treaty change for which unanimity is needed” (Parliament resolution of 30 April 2026, paragraph 22).
A single government’s no is enough. Yet the Treaties have been rewritten before, at Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon. The constraint is legal. The choice not to touch it is political. And the taxpayers of 27 countries pay for it.
Before anyone objects. Not the whole Parliament moves: Members, part of the staff and what the plenary needs. The 113.8 million is a 2014 estimate at 2014 prices. Strasbourg has real historical value, Franco-German reconciliation, and it brings business to Alsace: these are serious arguments, but they have a price, and that price should be declared.
8. What they say in reply. And why it’s not enough
The arguments in defence of the system exist, and we report them. None explains why receipts should remain optional.
- Independence. A well-paid elected representative does not depend on private funders. The Italian Senate says so too: the remuneration exists so that everyone, “regardless of wealth or income”, can be elected (Italian Senate, “Trattamento economico”; our translation). True. But independence does not require expenses without receipts.
- Real work. The European legislator writes complex laws and negotiates with 27 governments. Qualified staff cost money. True. But staff are already paid separately.
- Privacy and security. Publishing every receipt exposes suppliers and staff; the General Court recognised this. True. But between publishing everything and checking nothing there is the mandatory audit, which the Parliament rejected.
- Symbol. Strasbourg stands for Franco-German reconciliation. True. But a symbol worth 113.8 million a year should be voted on openly, every year.
9. Controls: what exists, what’s missing, who can fix it
Almost everything that is missing can be decided inside the Parliament. Tomorrow. Without touching the Treaties.
| Item | Control that exists | What is missing | Who can fix it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | Amount set by the Statute, the same for everyone, public | Any link to attendance | Parliament, with the approval of the Council (amendment of the Statute) |
| Daily subsistence allowance | Signing the register; half the allowance for those who miss half of the roll-call votes on voting days | A filter on days without votes; data per Member | Bureau (implementing measures) |
| General expenses | Dedicated account; −50% for unjustified absence from half of the plenary sittings | Receipts, audit, publication, repayment of unspent sums: all optional | Bureau (implementing measures) |
| Staff | Contracts paid by the Parliament; ban on hiring relatives | Spending per individual Member | Bureau |
| Travel | Reimbursement against documents, with ceilings | Spending per individual Member | Bureau |
| Seats | Official estimates from 2013 and 2014 | An updated estimate | Seat: the 27 governments, unanimously. Estimate: Parliament or the Court of Auditors, as early as tomorrow |
The Bureau is made up of the President of the Parliament and the Vice-Presidents, with the Quaestors in an advisory capacity. They are the ones who can change almost all of these rules. They are the ones who said no in 2018.
10. What could change
Six rules. None requires changing the Treaties, except the last.
| Proposal | Who decides | The objection to overcome |
|---|---|---|
| General expenses with receipts, audit, publication and repayment of unspent sums | Bureau | Administrative costs, privacy |
| A daily allowance tied to actual attendance, not just a signature | Bureau | Useful work is not only voting in the chamber |
| Proportionate deductions for repeated unjustified absences, as in the Italian Chamber of Deputies | Bureau; for the salary, an amendment of the Statute | Illness, family, missions |
| Regular publication of spending per Member: staff, travel, daily allowances | Bureau | Security, sensitive data |
| A new official estimate of the cost of the three seats | Parliament or Court of Auditors | None |
| A single seat | The 27 governments, unanimously | Unanimity, buildings, Alsace |
No rule should reward a merely formal presence. Paying for a signature encourages signatures.
11. Sources, method, updates
Method
Amounts and rules come only from primary documents: budgets, the Statute, implementing measures, texts adopted by the Parliament, the European Court of Auditors, the General Court of the Union, the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate. When a fact is documented only by an independent organisation, we say so. Every number has its year. Our own calculations are marked as such. No names of individual Members.
About this translation
This English version was produced with the help of artificial intelligence and checked figure by figure against the Italian original. The Italian text is authoritative. Quotations from official EU documents use the official English wording; quotations from Italian sources are our translation.
Sources (checked on 15 October 2026)
- European Parliament budget 2026 — European Parliament, Report on the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2027, A10-0124/2026, annex with the 2026 appropriations and 2025 expenditure (2026 total: 2,604,856,587 €; items 1000 salaries, 1004 travel, 1006 general expenditure, 422 parliamentary assistance). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-10-2026-0124_EN.html
- Parliament report on the 2027 estimates — same document, paragraph 4 (general expenditure allowance not index-linked for 2026).
- EU budget 2026, heading 7 — European Parliament Legislative Observatory, General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026, adopted on 26/11/2025. https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1874467
- European Parliament, page on salaries and allowances — Salaries and allowances. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/about/meps
- Implementing Measures for the Statute for Members — Bureau decision C/2024/2814, Articles 43–47. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/2814/oj
- Statute for Members of the European Parliament — Decision 2005/684/EC, Euratom, Articles 10, 13, 14. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2005/684/oj
- Regulation (EU) 2016/300 — emoluments of EU high-level public office holders, Articles 2, 5, 7 (judges of the Court of Justice: 112.5% of the basic salary of grade 16, third step). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/300/oj
- 2025 annual update of remuneration — update of the remuneration and pensions of EU officials from 1 July 2025, C/2025/6564 (grade 16, third step: 25,986.17 €). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52025XC06564
- European Parliament, rules on staff — Ethics and transparency. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/12/ethics-and-transparency
- European Parliament, page on transparency of the general expenditure allowance — Transparency on General Expenditure Allowance. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-service/en/transparency/general-expenditure-allowance
- European Union, “Types of institutions, bodies and agencies” — https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-bodies/types-institutions-and-bodies_en
- European Court of Auditors, 2014 — Analysis of potential savings to the EU budget if the European Parliament centralised its operations, 11/7/2014, summary (point VI), paragraph 51, figure 11. https://www.eca.europa.eu/other%20publications/pl1407_letter/pl1407_letter_en.pdf
- Protocol No 6 to the Treaties — on the location of the seats of the institutions. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/treaty/tfeu_2012/pro_6/oj
- Parliament resolution of 20 November 2013 — on the location of the seats of the EU institutions, 2012/2308(INI). https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1324608
- 2018 discharge resolution — adopted on 13/5/2020. https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1618061
- Parliament resolution of 30 April 2026 — P10_TA(2026)0155, estimates for 2027, paragraphs 3, 22, 24, 34; 401 in favour, 116 against, 68 abstentions. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-10-2026-0155_EN.html
- Italian Chamber of Deputies, “Il trattamento economico” (in Italian) — https://conoscere.camera.it/la-camera-dei-deputati/i-deputati/il-trattamento-economico
- Italian Senate, “Trattamento economico” (in Italian) — https://www.senato.it/composizione/senatori/trattamento-economico
- General Court of the EU, judgment of 25 September 2018 — Psara and Others v Parliament, Cases T-639/15 to T-666/15 and T-94/16. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=T-639/15
- European Parliament reply on AsktheEU, 2020 — General Expenditure Allowance and attendance rates. https://www.asktheeu.org/request/general_expenditure_allowance_an
- Transparency International EU, 3 July 2018 — Parliament squanders chance to reform MEP allowance. https://transparency.eu/no-gea-reform/
Update log
| Date | Version | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 14/10/2026 | 0.1 | First documentary draft |
| 14/10/2026 | 1.0 | Publication |
| 15/10/2026 | 1.1 | Full check against the primary sources; chapter on controls |
| 15/10/2026 | 1.2 | New chapters: “And that’s just the Parliament” (institutions, bodies, agencies; heading 7 of the EU budget) and “Five years without ever setting foot in the chamber”. Salary of a judge of the Court of Justice derived from the Statute. Sources cited in full instead of numbered references |
| 15/10/2026 | 1.3 | Judge’s salary checked in two independent ways (Regulation 2016/300 and the 2025 update of remuneration: 29,234.44 €). Pension and end-of-mandate allowance for one, two, three and four terms |
| 15/10/2026 | 1.4 | Article 14 of the Statute quoted word for word from the official text (previously paraphrased within quotation marks). The meaning does not change |
| 15/10/2026 | EN 1.4 | English translation |
Checks still in progress
- Attendance: an official, reproducible dataset before publishing any percentage.
- Unspent sums at the end of the mandate: any administrative instructions from the Bureau.
- Voluntary pension fund for Members elected before 2009: the Parliament writes that the fund “remains in a very fragile financial situation” (Parliament resolution of 30 April 2026, paragraph 34). It will be a chapter of its own.