The new Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker has been chosen, but the nominees for the other Commission posts have yet to be approved, so the old Commission is ticking over for the time being – well, at least some of it.
Given that the European Parliament, for which elections were held only three months ago, is enjoying its usual summer vacation, you would think that the Commission could have a break for a while until the new Commission is in place – indeed, given that the Commission is the initiator of new EU legislation, it would indeed be a very good thing if it were to shut down – if not for good at least until the new Commissioners have been chosen and confirmed by the European Parliament.
But no, its work carries on – that is apart from four Commissioners who have had to resign due to being elected to the European Parliament. So in order to keep the wheels of the Commisson turning, four temporary Commissioners were elected in July to replace them and they will serve in that role until the new Commission takes over in November. For this dubious privilege, they will receive roughly half a million euros for just four months of work, along with a bonus and pension plan comparable to fully-fledged commissioners.
Even ignoring the bonus and pension provision, this works out as approximately £100,000 per month! At a time when so many households in the country are still struggling to pay their bills, do we really want to remain part of an institution containing so many overpaid officials? Surely much better use could be made of taxpayers’ money than giving so much of it to individuals whose sole purpose is to keep a seat warm for someone else. Money for old rope indeed!
