From allowances to golden parachutes: How much are MEPs paid?

MEPs are gathering in Strasbourg for their first formal sitting since EU elections held in June.

From salaries to allowances to golden parachutes, MEPs can expect considerable benefits while they serve as EU lawmakers – and even after they leave.

Here's a list of the main perks that come with being a member of the European Parliament.

All MEPs have the same gross salary, regardless of their status or service.  

They get €10,337 a month – or €8,090 after special EU deductions are taken off. Most MEPs must also pay additional national taxes, though that varies by which country they’re from.

Those are the figures as of 1 January 2024, which are uprated each year for inflation.  

It compares favorably with national lawmakers. As of April 2024 British MPs earned gross monthly salaries of around £7,600 (€9,019) per month; in France, it’s around €7,637.  

And it’s definitely more than the salary the typical ordinary worker in the EU can expect, which according to Eurostat is €2,944 a month.

MEPs get a monthly expenditure allowance of €4,950 to manage office costs in their home constituency, like rent and IT supplies. (Office space in Brussels and Strasbourg is provided by the Parliament). 

That’s highly controversial because the sum can be deposited directly into MEPs' personal bank accounts. Unlike, say, travel expenses, they are not required to justify or submit invoices, or disclose how the money was spent.  

Controversy over expenses has occasionally headed to the EU courts. Ioannis Lagos, an MEP for the far-right Golden Dawn party, was convicted of belonging to a criminal organisation in 2020. 

In the seventh-month period between conviction and the Parliament agreeing to lift his immunity, Lagos had access to more than €100,000 in