EU gravy train shows true colours! 40k officials handed eye-watering pay rise– leaked memo

Brussels’ bureaucrats are to receive a €200million (£170million) salary increase backdated to July 1 from a 1.9 percent pay rise, an EU Commission report seen by the German newspaper Bild reveals. Michael Jäger, General Secretary of the European Taxpayers Association, criticised the pay rise as “the public sector shamelessly helping themselves”, sending the “absolutely wrong signal”.

He added: “Especially at this time when the political leadership is demanding cutbacks and understanding from the citizens, the European Union urgently needs to lead by example.

“It shows how far Europe has removed itself from the people.”

The Ifo institute has slashed Germany’s 2022 growth forecast, expecting the EU’s largest economy to shrink by 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of this year and to stagnate in the first three months of next year as a result of supply bottlenecks and a surge in Covid infections.

According to Bild, the lowest basic salary of an EU official will increase by €57 (£49) to €3,057 (£2,604) while the highest basic salary gets a €400 (£341) boost to €21,163 (£18,000) per month.

Allowances would add on €500 (£426) more, Bild reports.

EU commissioners will see their basic pay rise €444 (£378) to €23,809 (£20,286) while Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will pocket as much as €545 (£464) more, taking hers to €29,205 (£24,890), rocketing up to €34,000 (£28,978) after allowances are added.

MEP salaries are to increase by €171 (£146) to €9,166 (£7,813).

People employed by the bloc pay an EU income tax between 8 percent and 45 percent depending on their salary size. The EU income tax is 8 percent for annual salaries below about €60,000 (£51,000).

The EU pay award contrasts with Germany where politicians have been forced to tighten the purse strings this year with members of the Bundestag seeing their pay fall for the first time in July due to the cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

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They have seen a 0.7 percent fall to €10,012 (£8,534).

Across the UK civil service, most staff (55 percent) are paid below £30,000 with almost one in 10 civil servants (9 percent) paid below £20,000, according to the Institute for Government.

Salaries of more than £40,00 are less common with just under 90,000 civil servants earning more than £40,000 a year.

This represents less than half the number of those who earn between £20,000 and £30,000.

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A British MPs basic annual salary is £81,932, as of April 2020, though parliamentarians also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office and employing staff as well as covering the cost of having somewhere to live in London.

A list of more than 200 MPs who earn extra salaries is dominated at the higher end by Tory politicians.

Geoffrey Cox, who was attorney general during the height of the Brexit negotiations, has registered a total of £970,000 income in the last year for 705 hours of legal services.

Andrew Mitchell, also a Conservative MP, holds six consultancy jobs supporting investment banks and accountancy firms.

He has registered more than £180,000 for 34.5 days’ work.

However, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey works as a consultant for two firms alongside his job as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He says his extra £78,000 income goes towards supporting his disabled son.

And the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, took home £25,934.18 in the last 12 months for 106 hours work.

With additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg