100 posts
About Europarties, and other Political Foundations at European Level
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Reading Grahnlaw, I found links to: Call for proposals IX-2011/01 — ‘Grants to political parties at European level’; OJEU 24.6.2010 C 164/12 – The total sum, subject to approval by the budgetary authority, is EUR 17 400 000, in order to be el...
Time for UKIP MEPs to grow up
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It seems like UKIP MEPs are spending their summer by taking part in a letter writing campaign to their local papers with scare stories about supposed EU plans to require the UK to dissolve dead bodies in acid and tip them down the drain to save on bu...
Is our Tithe to Europe exempt from austerity measures?
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Lord Vinson asked a question along these lines, the answer he gets back is interesting.,To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make a proportional cut to the United Kingdom's European Union net contribution of approximately £7 billio...
Your staffing budget is fatter than my staffing budget! EP has no right to grumble at the Commission
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Oh the irony! A Member of the European Parliament – Inge Grässle (whose name sounds rather like graisse, the French word for fat) – has had a go at the European Commission for creating its hundredth Director...
Best of the Euroblogs?
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Last week, public affairs firm Waggener Edstrom published the findings of their ‘Brussels Blogger Study’. Having assessed the relevance and reach of thirty EU policy-related blogs, the firm produced a top ten of those they considered to b...
A short life as a UKIP member
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Adam Brown has had a short life as a member of UKIP and now he is to stand down as a councillor when his term ends. Elected to Merthyr Tydfil Council in 2008 as an independent, he joined UKIP last year. He got into trouble by posting on an internet...
Convicted MEPs
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Andrea D’ambra, a campaigner from Italy, is trying to get MEPs with criminal convictions booted out of the European Parliament. He has even set up a Facebook group. He lists three Italians, Vito Bonsignore, Aldo Patriciello and Mario Borghezio as h...
My 2010 Green manifesto
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I have decided to join the Green movement. It took me 13 years to take this decision. Decision to join a political party. If you are born in a Communist party lead country party does not necessarily mean something good. Now I am ready.Back in 1997 I...
The 281 MEPs who don’t support the EU’s MDG Targets
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The European Parliament has officially risen for the summer recess, and although they managed to bag themselves an extra week of holiday than usual this year (due to return 30th August) this doesn’t mean they can escape their responsibilities.In th...
Buzek's hankies
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He's at it again. This time the lachrymose EP President is at it again. Another train crash, and bout of synthetic sympathy.This time our august Parliamentary President is getting all teary about the ghastky crash in West Bengal."Once again West Beng...
Widening webcasting
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The Eurogoblin blog has started a round up of European blogs. Last week it picked up on my post on Danish MEP Morten Lokkegard’s report on journalism and new media. Eurogoblin argues for the “webcasting of all committee meetings – no...
How to fill a diary
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Now I am sure that Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament is a caring sort of chap. But this is ridiculous.Not only does he care about all the Parliamentarians in his manor, but now he is caring about Albanian bus crashes.It goes witho...
Holidays
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I am going to take a break. I will still be posting from time to time, but not as frequently. It may take a while for me to approve comments so please bear with me. I do appreciate everybody who takes the time to share their views, so please keep co...
Northern Ireland MEPs in the Wider European Parliament
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My posts on the Northern Ireland MEPs' first year in the 7th European Parliament mostly focused on highlighting what their priorities/key policy areas are with a bit of analysis (mostly a loose comparison between their performance and the "models" of...
The European Citizen and better Euroblogging
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Can independent Eurobloggers make a mark? Yes, if they deal with relevant issues and produce original content. Conor Slowey aka Eurocentric, who writes The European Citizen blog, is a case in point. His thoughts on the state(s) of the Old Continent...
Northern Ireland's MEPs: One Year On
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The 7th European Parliament is a year into its first term since the June 2009 elections, so I’ve decided to take a look at the performance of the 3 Northern Ireland MEPs in the European Parliament over the last year. To do this I’ve looked over t...
Diane Dodds MEP: One Year On
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[Part of the series on Northern Irish MEPs' first year in the 7th European Parliament]Diane Dodds (NI) (DUP). Member of: the Agriculture Committee and the Delegation for Relations with Israel (Substitute on: the Fisheries Committee and the Delegation...
Bairbre de Brún MEP: One Year On
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[Part of the series on the Northern Irish MEPs' first year in the 7th European Parliament]Bairbre de Brún (GUE-HGL [United Left]) (Sinn Féin). Member of: the Environment Committee, Petitions Committee and the Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parl...
James Nicholson MEP: One Year On
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[Part of the series on the Northern Irish MEPs' first year in the 7th European Parliament]James Nicholson (ECR) (UUP). Member of the Agriculture Committee, Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. (Substitute for the...
European Parliament accepts the establishment of the EEAS
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The Parliament’s acceptance of the EEAS, the EU’s diplomatic corps, on July 8 was hailed as a ‘historic’ moment by the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Of course, such words are necessary on special occasions. Nevertheless, Ashto...
UKIP Ally Goes Potty
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The Evening Standard Diary ran this clip today. ‘All sorts of potty ideas seem to emanate from the European parliament but London MEP Mary Honeyball has found an EU equivalent of the Early Day Motion which seems downright cracked. Italian pol...
If only you knew what really goes on in the European Parliament
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One of the things I have found most frustrating in my 10 years as an MEP is the seeming impossibility of getting information on the EU and what we do as MEPs out to a wider audience. Indeed, one of the reasons I started this blog was to put forward...
Germany puts European parliament first
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Christian Wulff, Germany’s new federal president, has not been idle. He had barely wiped his feet on the doormat in Schloss Bellevue, his splendid new Berlin residence, before setting off on a foreign trip. While his job is without power, it ca...
Petitioning the Parliament
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MEPs dealt with 1,924 petitions from all over Europe in 2009. Although it’s an increase on 2008, they believe the system has room for improvement. Find out more.
“More Trouble for Tory Euro Grouping as Kirkhope Launches Takeover Bid” says Iain Dale
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I have never before reprinted one of Iain Dale’s posts in its entirety. However, this story is so good, I thought you may like to see it here. “EXCLUSIVE: More Trouble for Tory Euro Grouping as Kirkhope Launches Takeover Bid Iain Dale...
We are the champions
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MEPs are placing their bets on a European team winning the World Cup in South Africa, but will it be Germany, Spain or the Netherlands? Watch this video clip to find out more.
Reimbursement for Members of the European Parliament
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According to Article 223(2) TFEU, the European Parliament lays down regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the duties of its Members. It needs the consent of the Council and an opinion from the Commission. The main act is the...
Who the "£$%^ does he think he is?
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The £$%^& ing jumped up arrogant w$@nker.Talking about the fact that the Polish version of the Lisbon Treaty nearly arrived in Rome functionally illegal, Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP and legal expert, said a dodgy Polish bill would have be...
Vote on Gallo Report postponed until autumn
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The European Parliament just decided to postpone the vote on the controversial Gallo Report on intellectual property rights enforcement until the autumn. This was a good decision. All the political groups are divided on the issue, and there is an int...
‘Brussels, we have a problem’ - MEP calls for European Centre to study UFO activity
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Frankly I have no idea how I managed to miss this gem earlier in the week but an MEP has submitted a written declaration to the European Parliament which calls on it to push for the creation of a European centre to study UFOs.Italian MEP Mario Borghe...
An own-initiative report in the European Parliament (Innovation Union)
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Officially, it started with the Commission’s communication Reviewing Community innovation policy in a changing world; Brussels, 2.9.2009 COM(2009) 442 final. The paper launched a public consultation on the EU’s future innovation plan in the conte...
Votewatch's Report on the European Parliament's First 6 Months
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Votewatch.eu have released a report on the status of the Euro-parties in the European Parliament (PDF; as reported in the EUobserver and flagged up by Writing for (y)EU).Like in the last Parliament, Europarties in the 7th Parliament are increasingly...
Main ACP-EU events for the week of 5th to 9nd of July 2010
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European Parliament (Strasbourg): - 5th-8th July: Plenary Session at the European ParliamentEU Presidency (Brussels): - 7th to 9th Juillet: Informal meeting of the Ministers of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs- 8 July: Informal...
Ideology over nationality
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This report is being passed around Parliament at the moment, in what in other contexts might be called a “viral” way. It’s votewatch.eu‘s analysis of MEP voting patterns, and attempts some conclusions about the political chara...
How to communicate in the European Parliament? Latvian experience
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In a post by one of our occasional guest bloggers, we are delighted that Lasma, who works in communications in the Latvian Parliament and who has spent a month with us on a secondment scheme, has recorded some of her thoughts about the experience. Sh...
Even the Belgians don't rate the European Parliament
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According to the Belgian newspaper De Tijd,Belgium today takes over the rotating EU Presidency for six-months, with outgoing PM Yves Leterme running day-to-day affairs and the EU Presidency while talks on forming a new coalition continue. In an inter...
European Electoral Reform
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There is a draft report to the EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs on reforming European electoral law so there'll be a uniform approach throughout the EU (PDF).It goes beyond simply having the same PR system used in all member states (or, at leas...
Cashman: We must keep our commitments to developing countries
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The European Parliament today called on the EU Council and member states to keep their commitments to developing countries. It urged member states and the Commission to reverse the decline in funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights in d...
MEPs ring alarm bells over financial industry’s excessive lobbying power
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Twenty two Members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum launched a remarkable warning against the financial industry’s intensive lobbying efforts last week, warning that it “poses a danger to democracy”.The MEPs, all ac...
Should bloggers get access badges for the EU institutions?
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This question asked by the head of the European Parliament press unit earlier this month is as simple as it is difficult to answer (Stephen and The European Citizen have given their views already). It is difficult to answer because it is actually a...
And the European Parliament LUX prize goes to...
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Yes, it's that time of year again: the European Parliament has announced its ten nominations to receive the prestigious European Parliament LUX film prize.An EP press release informs us that:The LUX Prize (in Latin, lux means light), was established...
New Media approach
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Following MEPs is easy now that so many of them are on Facebook and Twitter; for some, social media hold great hope in terms of filling the famous EU “communications gap”. See this video.
On increasing the number of MEPs
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The European Parliament is getting bigger – 18 new MEPs joining (thanks to the Lisbon Treaty), taking the total to 754. Cue the predictable outrage from the usual suspects about the “cost” of these new MEPs, rent-a-quote eurosceptic...
Online editorial models #03 – Network journalism
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There was a time networked journalism was called « citizen journalist. » Then a smart guy asked if you would trust a citizen dentist or a citizen brain surgeon and the term was dead, until it was rebranded as… network journalism. The rebran...
Kenya’s horticulture sector hit by the Greek debt crisis
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The raging Greek debt crisis has filtered into Kenya’s horticultural industry, causing foreign exchange losses running into billions of shillings as the country reassesses its overdependence on the turbulent European Union market.Players say the cr...
Call for Expert Help in Financial Regulation by the MEPs
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This is both extraordinary and unusual. A group of MEPs has publicly complained of the pressure exerted by the financial and banking industry to influence the laws governing it (hat tip: Hajo Friedrich). The MEPs call on NGOs, trade unions, academic...
Funding for Europarties and their foundations 2011: Misleading calls for proposals
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Europarties and their political foundations are going to receive 28.8 million euros in subsidies in 2011 from the European Parliament (and EU taxpayers).Even if the established political parties at European level, represented in strength in the Europ...
Professional archetypes
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I still have to think about which professional archetypes defines me best (the team is welcome to let me know). And you? Read Seth Godin’s post and let us know in the comments ;-)...
Agreement reached over Parliament's 18 'ghost MEPs'
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National diplomats have this morning finalised changes to the Lisbon Treaty in order to allow 18 extra MEPs to officially take their seats in the European Parliament.EU leaders agreed at last week's EU summit to launch an Intergovernmental Conference...
Facebook makes you mad, We need a law against it
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This needs to be read in full, just to see what sort of copper bottomed, prize idiot has been elected to the European Parliament by the good people of Leinster.Stand up Nessa Childers, blithering idiot and waste of rations.Parliamentary questions16 J...
Facebook or the question in what kind of world some MEPs live
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A member of the European Parliament, Ms Nessa Childers, seems to think Facebook is a danger to the mental health of EU citizens, asking the Commission whether it will legislate on this threat to humanity. With all due respect to you, Ms Childers, bu...
If this isn't an EU Propaganda unit in the making please tell what it is
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Tomorrow the European Parliament's Culture committee will be voting on a report by a certain Morten Løkkegaard, a new Danish MEP and former journalist with a string of questionable activities to his name, including 9/11 conspiracy stuff.He was elect...
The European Diplomatic Service – Yet Another Win for the European Parliament
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There is now a political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the proposal for a Council Decision establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service. But wait: why do we need a political agre...
Listening to Wikileaks Julian Assange at the European Parliament
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Rarely does a lobbyist listen to someone and feel utterly impressed, no strings or cautious thoughts attached…Or at least, not an “old rot” like me…But today, just for a few minutes, I felt like “not all was lost”&...
Italian nuts are sensitive
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If you still believe the European Parliament has no impact on your daily life, maybe you’d reconsider your position after reading this article by AP: Italy fears for Nutella with new EU food labels. Read also our Press release.
Who pays their assistant more than they get paid themselves?
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I ask because according to Bruno Waterfield in the Telegraph not only do over 1000 EU staff earn more than the PM, but,there are 19 European Parliament assistants, or researchers to MEPs, who earn £75,752 a year. Which is very odd as the MEPs themse...
European Parliament cancels Strasbourg Plenary
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A row is brewing over plans to scrap the next plenary session in Strasbourg after officials realised that they were unlikely to have a quorum of MEPs for the session, and it is rumoured, almost until the traditional August break. “I can’t...
In case you didn't notice...
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... but a majority of the members of the European Parliament now officially thinks we are ALL potential pedophiles. I feel insulted! PS.: As soon as the list of MEPs who signed this declaration is public, you will ALL hear from us, be assured!
Print this out: Tricks to survive “Stressbourg”
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It is actually very simple to get to our office PFL F 00445A once you know it. :} I am writing this for you so you will not get lost in Stressbourg {as my friend Alberto call it} and all you need to do is to follow a few basic rules. Why? I got supe...
The crisis must be taken as an opportunity
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The European Parliament today condemned the approach of the European council to the financial crisis, but it may be that prolonged criticism of the national leaders themselves, also on the part of civil society and social movements, will be the only...
Will the European Parliament move forward on EEAS?
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As things stand, the member states and the Commission have accepted the EU foreign policy chief Ashton’s blueprint for the European diplomatic corps - the European External Action Service (EEAS). This institutional innovation is intended to be a st...
Morning Brief (16-6)
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Turkey has given up stabilizing role, says Thomas Friedman in the New York Times: The last time I visited Turkey in 2005, my discussions with officials were all about Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. That is why it is quite shocking to...
Barroso’s Question Time
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Some fighting talk by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Strasbourg on Tuesday. “The commission is the economic government of Europe,” he proclaimed. And quickly, as if worried that someone may contradict him, he added:...
Global democracy: What's going on in the European Parliament?
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Since the end of the Cold War, the European Parliament was considered to be a spearhead of global democracy. In February 1994, amid one of the worst conflicts on European soil since World War II, the Parliament became the first in history to call for...
President Buzek to launch daily paper
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European Parliament President, Jerzy Buzek announced his intention to launch a newspaper that will publicise his activities. The planned publication, understood to be called “Daily Buzek World Review” is to launch in August and will have...
Cat in kitchen could be source of EP neuroses
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The environs of the European Parliament canteen have been subject to intense investigation following the recent robbery of its takings. No clues to the identity of the perpretator have yet been found, but security staff have discovered a cat that has...
Should Bloggers get Accreditation to EU Institutions?
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M van den Broeke on Twitter asked this question, Should serious EU bloggers get some sort of accreditation to EU institutions? But on what criteria? Firstly I say fair play to her for bringing up the question. Its one that should be asked more, and n...
Elmar Brok on the European External Action Service
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The shape of the European Union's new diplomatic corps was discussed last week by MEPs. The proposed new European External Action Service will be responsible for coordinating the EU's foreign relations and security cooperation. It may even play a rol...
22 EU parliamentarians withdraw signatures from controversial declaration - update
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Update (17 June): It seems like the declaration has been adopted. Here it is, on the list of adopted declarations. What a disgrace! According to Europaportalen.se, MEPs have started to withdraw their signatures from a controversial EP declaration.
Första året i EU-parlamentet
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I dag är det ett år sedan EU-valet. Låt oss kasta en snabb blick i backspegeln. Vad har Piratpartiet uträttat i Europaparlamentet under detta år? Här kommer några, av många, exempel… Läs mer hos Hax, som har gjort en summering. ……
European Parliament staff statistics by nationality and grade
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Earlier this year, the Spanish EU Council Presidency has written a letter to the Secretary General of the European Parliament, Klaus Welle, asking for detailed staff statistics of the European Parliament Secretariat in the same way as the EP wants th...
EU, terror & restricted briefings
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"We should also provide more detailed information to the European Parliament, for example through restricted briefings." "At the moment we give the US data and get assessed intelligence in return." "Improving the effectiveness of the EUPOL Mission...
European Parliament must drive integration
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Guy Verhofstadt, president of the European Parliament (EP) Liberal Democrats and former Belgian prime minister, briefed the European Policy Centre today on his vision for Europe. In his view the main underlying issue at stake is whether the EU uses t...
MEPs should set an example
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The European Parliament on 19 May voted themselves an additional €9.4 million for staff salaries, to help them cope with the additional work created under the Lisbon Treaty. Monthly staff budgets are currently €17 540 per MEP. However justified...
