LETTER FROM BRUSSELS
What brings together the High Representative for the European Union (EU), the Spaniard Josep Borrell, the former far-right French candidate for the presidency of the Republic, Marine Le Pen, the ex-boss of the UKIP and British cantor of Brexit, Nigel Farage, or the current European commissioners Janusz Wojciechowski and Elisa Ferreira? They have all been MEPs and have all subscribed to the EU Parliament’s voluntary pension fund. A fund today in total distress, as recently revealed Politico And Investigate Europe.
“In the early 1990s, allowances for MEPs varied from country to country and Parliament created this voluntary pension scheme to help them supplement their future retirement. In 2009, it was closed to any new elected member when the new statute for MEPs was adopted”, we explain within the institution. The fund then ceased to be fed by the future beneficiaries. And without contributors, the fund of the pension system, which still has more than 900 beneficiaries, including 800 retired people, has gradually been emptied.
Initially, the European budget rebalanced the accounts. According Investigate Europe, between 1990 and 2009, no less than 118 million euros were paid into the fund to keep it afloat. While everyone knew the problem, the President of the Assembly, the Maltese Roberta Metsola, and the new Secretary General, Alessandro Chiocchetti, decided to tackle this issue head-on.
An audit was launched and in April, the office of Parliament then learned, with dismay, that the fund was indeed on the brink. Its 50 million euros in cash will be exhausted in less than two years. And at the end of 2024, some 310 million euros will have to be found to ensure its sustainability and continue payments to former MEPs.
A particularly advantageous fund
A hell of a sum for 900 former MEPs, of whom around twenty are still in office. This fund was particularly advantageous. “With only a few years of contributions, lifetime pension payments of several thousand euros per month were possible – in addition to already existing pension rights from other sources. This led to absurd situations. Some current EU commissioners, but also British lords and well-endowed former EU politicians enjoy lavish supplementary pensions,” explains German Green MEP Daniel Freund.
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