Green MEPs were amongst the first to make expenses information publicly available, and last year took the decision to have their annual accounts fully audited. The auditor’s certificate is available via Caroline’s website:
http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/euro-parliament/#pay
Here you can also see a breakdown of how she has spent her general allowance in the past year and information about her travel expenditure. She is in the process of compiling the records for previous years, and this will be available shortly.
For privacy reasons, individual staff salaries are not published, but Caroline can confirm that all staff costs are met by the £12,000 per month allowance, that she does not employ any members of her family, and that she has 3 full time and 4 part time members of staff.
Caroline owns one property, which is her family home. MEPs receive a daily allowance, when they attend official meetings in Brussels or Strasbourg, to cover accommodation and food. No receipts are required since this is a lump sum payment (298 Euro), made if MEPs sign the official register. During official plenaries of the Parliament, the amount is halved if a Member is not present for 50% of the roll-call votes.
The Green MEPs use a service provider (the Green MEP Trust) to manage their allowances, to ensure proper accounting for the public money they receive from the European Parliament. This is an independent body, administered by a voluntary board. MEP staff are employees of the Trust, and salaries are paid direct from the European Parliament.
As a member of the cross-party Campaign for Parliamentary Reform, Caroline has long called for the introduction of an efficient and transparent system for reimbursing members’ expenses. For example, as long ago as 2004, she demanded that there should be an obligation on MEPs to provide supporting documents for at least 50% of the General Allowance. The majority of members of the two biggest parliamentary groups, the Conservatives and Socialists, blocked this proposal.
Thanks to the pressure brought about by the Greens and others, the rules for MEP travel allowances will be changed as of July 2009, so that MEPs will be reimbursed for the actual cost of a journey, rather than on the basis of a lump-sum. Greens argued that this change should have been introduced years ago, but again, other parties have blocked their proposals.
Caroline has also been in the forefront of the campaign to abolish the European Parliament’s monthly move to Strasbourg, which is both hugely costly and environmentally damaging.
The Green Party also has proposals for how the Westminster system could be improved, which we hope will go some way to renewing confidence in the political system. You can read more about these in Caroline’s article about the recent expenses debacle at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/may/15/green-westminster-mps-expenses
