Graham Watson MEP

MEP's Pay and Expenses

Published on Monday 28th November 2011

SALARY

MEPs are paid a salary fixed at the rate of 38.5% of a European Court of Justice Judge. This currently amounts to €91,983 pa.

Taxes deducted by the European Parliament are of a lower rate than those in Britain. However, Liberal Democrat MEPs opt to pay a supplementary tax plus national insurance, bringing our contribution in line with that of our constituents.

I was a member of the European Parliament's voluntary pension scheme between 1994 and 2009.

I am a full time MEP; it is my only salaried job and normally involves a working week of over 70 hours.

Members of the public can follow my work through this website, Facebook and through my weekly emailed newsletter from the European Parliament. To be added to my mailing list, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To keep track of my work in Parliament, follow the link below to the VoteWatch website.

Vote Watch

To see a full copy of my Declaration of Interests, follow the link below.

Graham Watson's Declaration of Interests

AWAY FROM HOME ALLOWANCES

MEPs receive no Westminster-style second homes allowances.

Instead, they are entitled to a daily allowance of €298 to cover accommodation and subsistence costs. This is strictly related to actual attendance at Parliament, and is regulated by a Parliamentary register.

Travel

Up until July 2009, travel expenses within the South West were paid from the General Expenses account (see below). However, since July 2009, all travel expenses are administered and paid directly by the European Parliament authorities.

This includes travel to and from an MEP's constituency, which is now reimbursed on the basis of actual cost rather than a fixed rate. This is a vast improvement from the old system, and is a change that Liberal Democrats were eager to push through and keen to see built upon.

MEPs can submit claims for car journeys in their own countries up to a maximum distance of 24,000 km annually at the rate of €0.49/km. I try to avoid travelling by car as much as possible, but with a large rural constituency I cannot always do this.

The travel allowance includes the reimbursement of travel between the constituency and places of work, Brussels and Strasbourg. In Graham's case. the constituency includes Gibraltar. The travel expenses paid by Parliament are made up of the actual cost of the air or rail ticket plus a small allowance to cover the cost of travel to the airport or station. In the travel allowance are also included the reimbursement of travel within the constituency and official journeys in and beyond the UK. In Graham's case, these amount to €5,511.22 for travel in the constituency and the UK and €3,527.40 for official journeys outside the UK.

GENERAL EXPENDITURE

Verified by Michael Miles Accountancy of Street (of no personal connection to me or any of my staff).

No part of this allowance goes to me by way of additional personal income.

In 2009, MEPs had an allowance of £39, 642 to cover the cost of constituency work. In 2010, Graham received an allowance of £43,269.97 to cover the cost of constituency work.

This included;

• Office management and running costs
• Purchase or rental of office equipment
• Telephone and postage
• Office supplies
• Purchase of publications
• Internet
• IT hardware and software

It is useful to remember that I represent an area equivalent to 54 Westminster constituencies (plus Gibraltar) with 5 million constituents, and I strive to assist everyone who contacts me, however I can. As such, an efficient and effective constituency office is essential to my work.

2011 Staff, Office and Travel Expenses

You can download the full expenses declaration of the 2011 accounts here: Expenses and Staff Allowance 2011

A certificate of verification from Graham's paying agent is available for view on the documents page.

General Expenses Allowance 2009

N.B The difference of the headings between 2009 and 2010 is due to the British Liberal Democrat MEPs agreeing to a common format to the accounts. The European Parliament does not require MEPs to present accounts related to the General Expenses Allowance, therefore there is not a format common to MEPs.

Constituents and members of the press are welcome to make an appointment to view receipts for the General Expenses account at my constituency office.

EXPENSES PAID TO GRAHAM

The following is a statement of the expenses paid to Graham during 2009 and 2010. Graham's 2009 expenses includes a period of 7 months in which Graham was leader of the ALDE Group, which inevitably involved more travelling as part of his parliamentary duties. The information is provided by the Parliament's Directorate-General for Finance and is presented here in the complex style in which it arrives. The current 2010 expenses shown here are a summary and a more detailed breakdown will be added in due course.

Please note that the European Parliament regards this information as highly confidential. As a matter of routine it is not even provided to the MEPs concerned, rather an individual application has to be made to obtain it.

A scan of the document from the European parliament confirming the above figures can be found here

 Expenses Verification December 2010 (190.61 kB)