Annual cost of European Parliament soars to £1.332 billion
THE PRESS OFFICE OF the Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour) News Release
Cost of European Parliament soars to £1.332 billion per year, £838 million more than Westminster (MEPs cost £1.79 million each).
The appallingly high running cost of the European Parliament has been exposed in a written reply to a question put to the Government by independent Labour Peer, Lord Stoddart of Swindon.
The Government was asked for comparative costs between the European Parliament and Westminster. In his response (8.01.12), Lord Sassoon, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, confirmed the 2011-12 cost of the European Parliament at £1.332 billion compared with £494 million for Westminster, including both the House of Commons and the Lords.
Lord Stoddart also asked for costs per member to be included in the figures. In 2011-12, MEPs cost a colossal £1.79 million each compared with just £0.59 million per member of the House of Commons. Peers cost a mere £0.13 million.
Lord Stoddart, commenting on the Government’s reply said: “These are eye watering figures that make Westminster look like very good value for money. The European Parliament costs £838 million per annum more than the combined cost of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Government is constantly on the look-out for ways to save money to reduce the deficit. It should take a serious look at its contribution to the cost of running the European Parliament! This is an institution that does not hold proper debates and whose members cannot even introduce a Private Members Bill. It merely acts as a rubber stamp for the unelected European Commission’s legislative proposals. The number of MEPs has risen from 736 to 754, since these figures were produced, so even these huge figures fall short of the real cost!”
The full text of Lord Stoddart’s question and the Government’s response is as follows:
Hansard 08.03.12 Parliaments: CostsQuestion Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures for the annual total costs, and cost per member, of (1) the House of Lords, (2) the House of Commons, and (c) the European Parliament.
The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon): The table below sets out the annual cost, number of Members and average cost per Member for the House of Commons, House of Lords and European Parliament.
| House of Commons | House of Lords | EuropeanParliament | |
|
Annual Cost (£million) |
385 |
109 |
1,332 |
| Number of Members |
650 |
821-831 |
736 |
|
Expenditure per Member (£million) |
0.59 |
0.13 |
1.79 |
The figures for the House of Commons are taken from the House of Commons annual accounts 2011-122 (for both administrative and Members’ budgets) and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority annual accounts 2011-123.
The House of Lords figures are for taken from the House of Lords annual accounts 2011-124. For the European Parliament, figures are taken from the European Union Budget of 2011 financial report5. The European Parliament increased from 736 Members to 754 from 1 December 2011.
1 Reported annual cost of €1,555 million, converted at the December 2011 exchange rate of €1.18 = £1
2 http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/commons/resource-accounts
3 http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/About%20Us/ Corporate%20Publications/Annual%20Report%20and%20Accounts%202011-%202012.pdf
4 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/en/
00059f3ea3/The-budget-of-the-European-Parliament.html