2024-05-10 08:08:45
One in four of the 705 members of the European Parliament is engaged in paid activities not related to the exercise of parliamentary powers.
As Day.Az reports, such data is provided in a report published on the website of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Transparency International.
According to the document, the total amount of additional income of European legislators is €8.7 million per year. At the same time, the average annual salary of a European parliamentarian is €120 thousand. According to the organization’s estimates, the total share of European parliamentarians who have additional employment – both paid and unpaid – reaches 70%. Of these, 82% participate in the work of company boards of directors, some of which may be interested in lobbying for laws beneficial to themselves, the organization believes.
The uncontrolled participation of European deputies in the activities of third-party organizations carries with it the risk of a conflict of interest, the authors of the report believe. “How can European citizens be confident that their elected representatives are acting in the public interest if they are hired by third parties?” – Transparency International asks.
Last year, the European Parliament stripped Belgian Marc Tarabella and Italian Andrea Cozzolino of parliamentary immunity due to corruption allegations. Legislators were suspected of receiving large rewards for lobbying the interests of Middle Eastern states in the process of choosing the venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup (held in Qatar). The scandal also cost the career of former deputy head of the European Parliament Eva Kiley, who was stripped of her parliamentary immunity and taken into custody.