2. Now divide that party’s vote count by two.
3. Whoever now has the largest number of the lot gets the next seat.
4. Divide that party’s vote count by one more than the seats its holds.
5. Carry on doing this – give a seat to the largest, then divide it, then look again at who now has the largest – until all the seats are allocated.
Change UK
David MacDonald
Peter Griffiths
Kate Forman
Heather Astbury
Colin McFadyen
Cathy Edgeworth
Conservative
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik
Iain McGill
Shona Haslam
Iain Whyte
Andrea Gee
Michael Kusznir
Green
Maggie Chapman
Lorna Slater
Gillian Mackay
Chas Booth
Mags Hall
Allan Faulds
Labour
David Martin
Jayne Baxter
Craig Miller
Amy Lee Fraioli
Callum O’Dwyer
Angela Bretherton
Liberal Democrats
Sheila Ritchie
Fred Mackintosh
Catriona Bhatia
Vita Zaporozcenko
John Edward
Clive Sneddon
SNP
Alyn Smith
Christian Allard
Aileen McLeod
Margaret Ferrier
Heather Anderson
Alex Kerr
The Brexit Party
Louis Stedman-Bruce
Karina Walker
James Ferguson-Hannah
Stuart Waiton
Paul Aitken
Calum Walker
UKIP
Donald MacKay
Janice MacKay
Otto Inglis
Mark Meechan
Roy Hill
Neil Wilson
Independent
Gordon Edgar
Ken Parke
How much do MEPs get paid?
Under the single statute for Members in force since July 2009, MEPs all receive the same salary.
The monthly pre-tax salary of MEPs, under the single statute, is € 8.757,70 (as of July 2018). This salary comes from Parliament’s budget. All MEPs pay EU tax and insurance contributions, after which the salary is € 6.824,85. In addition, most EU countries oblige their MEPs to pay an additional national tax to their home country.
The final salary (salary after taxes) for an individual Member therefore depends on the taxation rules in the Member’s home country. The MEPs’ basic salary is set at 38.5% of the basic salary of a judge at the European Court of Justice, so MEPs do not, and cannot, decide on their own salary.
There are a few exceptions to the single statute: MEPs who held a mandate in Parliament before the 2009 elections could opt to keep the previous national system for salary (in which they were paid the same amount as national MPs), transitional allowance and pensions, for the entire duration of their membership of the European Parliament.
Are MEPs entitled to a pension? How much is it?
Members are entitled to an old-age pension from the age of 63. The pension equals 3.5% of the salary for each full year’s exercise of a mandate but not more than 70% in total. The cost of these pensions is met from the European Union budget. An additional pension scheme, introduced for MEPs in 1989, was closed to new members from July 2009 and is being phased out.
Allowances
Much of MEPs’ work means being away from home and their home country. Therefore, a number of allowances are available to cover the costs involved (all figures from 2019).
Travel Expenses
Most European Parliament meetings, such as plenary sessions, committee meetings and political group meetings, take place in Brussels or Strasbourg. MEPs are refunded the actual cost of their travel tickets for attending such meetings upon presentation of receipts, up to a maximum of a business class (or similar) air fare, a first class rail fare or €0.53 per km for car journeys (up to a maximum of 1000 km), plus fixed allowances based on the distance and duration of the journey to cover other costs of travelling (such as motorway tolls, excess baggage charges or reservation fees).
Members are often required to travel within and outside the Member State in which they were elected, both in the performance of their official duties and for other purposes (for example, to attend a conference or take part in a working visit). For activities outside their own country, MEPs may be reimbursed for their travel, accommodation and related expenses up to a maximum annual amount of €4.454 . For activities within their Member State of election, only travel expenses are reimbursed, up to a maximum annual amount determined on a country-by-country basis.
Daily allowance (also called “subsistence allowance”).
Parliament pays a flat-rate allowance of €320 to cover accommodation and related costs for each day that MEPs are present in Brussels or Strasbourg on official business, provided that they sign a register to attest their presence. The allowance covers hotel bills, meals and all other expenses involved. The allowance is reduced by half, if MEPs miss more than half the roll-call votes on days when plenary votes are held, even if they have been present and signed the attendance register.
For meetings outside the EU, the allowance is €160 (again subject to signing a register) with hotel bills refunded separately.
General expenditure allowance
This flat-rate allowance is intended to cover expenses resulting from Members’ parliamentary activities, such as office rent and management costs, telephone and subscriptions, representation activities, computers and telephones, the organisation of conferences and exhibitions. The allowance is halved for Members who, without due justification, do not attend half the number of plenary sittings in one parliamentary year (September to August).
In 2019 the allowance is € 4.513 per month.
Nice work if you can get it …
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The d’Hondt system is often described as “complex”. But then so is double entry book keeping if you were to drill into the detail of how that is done. Most us are quite happy to know whether a company is profitable or not.
The way that d’Hondt works sounds complicated but look at the results it gives. Is there any more sensible and FAIRER way to allocate 6 seats? (graphic available if you’d like it but I don’t know how to post it here). Far more important that it comes as close as possible to reflecting the preferences of the electorate who will have to live with the consequences of who they have given power to.
So far as the remuneration package is concerned, yes it is hefty, but then it is a heavyweight job. And expenses are just that. Anyone who thinks they can do it can have a pop (as the 2 independents illustrate) but it is not easy.
Please don’t diminish these elections. They are crucially important to us, our children and their children. Get out on 23 May and VOTE!
Turnout at the last Euro elections in the UK (2014) was 35.6%, in 2009 it was 34.7. Given the ongoing furore over Brexit you would imagine that this figure will surely rise next week. It will be interesting to see just how important the EU issue is to the British electorate – can it really be that two out of every three voters really just don’t care? Thanks for the d’Hondt graphic, Bill – I’ve added it now.