Citing the budget deficit, Brussels would squeeze out even more money from its member states. The body would adopt another €50-billion package for Ukraine, yet there is no talk of frugality in the center. Quite the contrary, they would raise the salaries of EU bureaucrats and pump more money into the EU’s communication. The Politico portal, which has close links to EU sources, has recently published several articles saying that the European Commission is trying to collect money from wherever it can. The desperation of the Brussels bureaucrats proves that
Brussels has spent the money on Ukraine. The coronavirus pandemic, the inflation and the war brought the European Commission (EC) into a difficult economic situation, and its budget is bleeding money. Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, said that the EU institution is testing the limits, and it is dubious what they can finance from the sums currently available.
They would make member states pay even more
Therefore the EC would significantly raise its budget, but first it has to go through the member states for that. As we reported earlier, Brussels would spend some €50 billion more to support Ukraine, and €15 billion more to migration and neighborhood policy. A further €10 billion would be earmarked to strategic sectors and the maintenance of the Brussels bureaucracy.
The most important item is the new financial package for Ukraine, which aims to allow the war-torn country to balance its budget by 2027 and start rebuilding.
Politico also reported that Brussels would like to increase the budget not only to Ukraine, but also to itself. Recent press reports have also revealed that the EC would double its own PR budget, raising it from €30 to €60 million, with its main beneficiaries being Ursula von der Leyen's German communication advisors. In addition, the extra sum would be partly covered from the funds earmarked for agriculture, research, handling migration and the Erasmus scholarships.
During its lavish spending, the Commission is trying to encourage other institutions, such as the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice to be more frugal. Ms Von der Leyen's leadership would expect a cost reduction of €28 million from the former and €6 million from the latter. Of course, frugality has its limits for the EU bureaucrats: the EC has offered MEPs to raise their already sizable salaries by the rate of the inflation.
Salaries were raised even during crisis
It is worth recalling that the salaries of MEPs were raised during the economic and energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The monthly salary of a MEP was raised to a gross €9808.67, or a net €7647.13. It is, however, far from being the full revenue of EU representatives, as they receive various allowances on top of their salaries.
An MEP's general expenditure allowance (to which they are entitled for expenses incurred in the Member State of election) is €4,778 per month. Besides that, travel expenses and other related fees (such as road tolls or booking fees) are also reimbursed. MEPs receive travel expenditure allowances from the EP if they travel to the state of their election or to another state, even if the trip is not justified by attending an official meeting, but by visiting a conference. There is a maximum amount of €4.716 to this sum, almost equal to the general allowance. However, can be used not only to cover travel costs, but also accommodation and other expenses.
In addition to their monthly salary and allowances for parliamentary work and other expenses related to their stay abroad, MEPs also receive a daily allowance of €338 to cover expenses incurred during their parliamentary term. This means that MEPs’ net monthly income, including allowances, can reach €14,170, while their annual income can be as high as €170,040.
The top brass in Brussels are paid well above the already high salaries of MEPs, with a 4.4 percent increase planned from next month. From that time, President Ursula von der Leyen's salary will increase from €31,252 gross to €32,627 a month. She will thus receive an annual increase of €16,501, totaling €391,524. From July, the monthly salary of the high representative would grow to €30,735, that of the seven vice-presidents to €29,553 each, and that of the other 18 members to €26,598. In total, the annual salaries of the 27 officers would amount to €8,988,019 next year, an increase of €378,805 compared to a year earlier.
Hungary rejects Brussels’ migrant quota
The two-day EU summit starting on Thursday is likely to bring fierce debates again. Among the topics on schedule are the Russia-Ukraine war, the above-mentioned further support to Ukraine, and the issue of migration. Brussels would further expand the budget, which is already overburdened by bureaucracy and is leaking money, but member states will probably be reluctant to provide additional financial resources.
Meanwhile, tension has been high in EU member states for weeks due to the EC’s plans for handling migration. As it is known, the asylum and migration pact tabled in 2020 has the relocation of asylum seekers and expelled migrants in its focus as a primary element of solidarity, which would be mandatory in certain cases. The pact did not make a proposal on the possibility of judging one’s asylum application outside a state, a practice that has been used by Hungary, would not have made it mandatory to process the migrants on the border, and would not have allowed for an extended and flexible interpretation of the concept of a safe third country. Also, the proposed agreement did not provide for any possibility of offsetting or taking into account a state’s own border protection costs as solidarity. The latter elements, that are crucial from a Hungarian perspective, could not realistically be included in the negotiations due to the lack of sufficient support in the qualified majority voting.
Recently, at the beginning of June, the Council of Interior Ministers of the EU member states adopted a resolution with a majority decision on the reform of the EU's asylum system. The idea is to distribute 30,000 migrants a year among member states on the basis of quotas, which could be replaced by paying €20,000 euros per 20 migrants. This would amount to a total direct financial contribution of €600 million per year. However, the Commission is only required to consider this as a starting point and has already said that it will propose higher targets.
The Hungarian government has called Brussels’ pact unacceptable from the outset. Most recently, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban clarified after the summit of the V4 bloc that Hungary’s position has not changed in this matter. "A potential solution - which is also laid down in Hungarian laws - would be that if someone submits an application for entry to the EU's territory, he or she must be physically outside of European borders until their application has been assessed. If we could establish that only those could enter the territory of the EU who have undergone this procedure and whose entry has been authorized by a member state, we could put this misery behind us in short order," Viktor Orban emphasized.
He added that the EU was not willing to take this decisive step, and unfortunately the European Commission's (EC) new migration proposal has not achieved this goal, either. This is why we must continue fighting in this matter, he stressed. With regard to the budget amendment proposal - which also deals with migration - outlined by the European Commission, PM Orban said the funds earmarked by the EC for the fight against migration are simply frivolous. "I must say that the whole proposal, as it stands, is frivolous on the part of the European Commission and in this form - in Hungary's view - it is unfit for negotiation," Mr Orban said.
