European Commission Extravagance.

[Dubh the dark]

The European Commission has recently demanded a budget increase of 4.9%. It have also decided to levy direct taxes on EU member states starting 2013.

An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has detailed astonishing extravagant spending by the Commission, which includes;


More than €7.5m (£6.6m) was spent on private jet travel for commissioners between 2006 and 2010.

Tens of thousands more was spent accommodating commissioners at luxury five star resorts in exotic locations such as Papua New Guinea, Ghana and Vietnam, the spending figures show.

The Commission also ran up a bill of more than €300,000 (£263,511) for lavish cocktail parties, including an event in Amsterdam costing €75,000, which was described as “a night filled with wonder like no other”.

It spent thousands hiring top orchestras to play at the exclusive parties, while guest speakers at its events were presented with expensive gifts including cufflinks, fountain pens and Tiffany jewellery.

Jose Manuel Barroso, ran up a bill of €28,000 (£24,500) during a four-night stay at the New York Peninsula Hotel in September 2009.

On one occasion, a delegation of 44 staff was flown to the five-star Palm Garden Resort in Vietnam for an event to “facilitate internal cooperation”.

On top of the £6.6m private jet bill, a further €118,000 was paid for limousines to chauffeur commissioners between official engagements.

Baroness Ashton infuriated British government ministers last month when she demanded an extra £23.5 million to run her diplomatic service, which would take her total budget to £427 million.

The EU foreign minister is the world’s highest paid female politician, earning £230,000 a year. Her demands for more cash were branded “ludicrous” by Mr Lidington last month.

Herman Van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton travelled in two separate private jets to the same meeting in Russia. Their flights left Brussels within four hours of each other, both with plenty of empty seats.

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Is it really too much to ask that the European Commission restrain its gross expenditure, whilst the majority of EU citizens are being asked to take cuts, More importantly can we really allow for greater budgets and taxation, when the track record of expenditure is so miserable?

[Vítor Gaspar]

Manuel Barroso is just doing what he used to do in Portugal. We actually have a name for those guys: leeches. That's what he is. He's just a puppet.

[Dubh the dark]

Manuel Barroso is just doing what he used to do in Portugal. We actually have a name for those guys: leeches. That's what he is. He's just a puppet.

Turns out Von Rompuy and Barroso took seperate flights to the same meeting due to a power feud

Rivalry between the EU president Herman Van Rompuy and the European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, whose title is also president, over who is Europe's true leader on the world stage meant that the pair and their entourages, would not share one aircraft.

Mr Van Rompuy, Belgium's former prime minister before he took the EU post, did not offer Mr Barroso space on an aircraft supplied to him by the Belgian air force at cheap rates.

Instead, Mr Barroso was forced to charter a 15-seater plane, said to be a Learjet, at high commercial rates to carry himself, Baroness Ashton, the EU's trade commissioner and a group of officials to Russia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...rate-jets.html

[The Dude]

Oh what a wonder, unelected officials being irresponsible with their finances and taking it out on the people.

Christ this EU is such a bloody trainwreck.

Can't we elect Nigel Farage into office? Oh wait, yeah. No voting.

[Tiberios]

Brilliant. Nice to see they just waste money like that

[The Dude]

A friend of mine made a good point: if it is somehow the ambition of these people to establish the next incarnation of the roman empire, can we first please go through all the phases where being an empire is beneficial? You know, the perks of a civilised society: advances in technology, advances in philosophy, advances in art and whatnot. Instead of skipping straight to the decadence and orgies and then watching everything plummet away into the abyss.

[Tyelkormo]

Turns out Von Rompuy and Barroso took seperate flights to the same meeting due to a power feud

Rivalry between the EU president Herman Van Rompuy and the European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, whose title is also president, over who is Europe's true leader on the world stage meant that the pair and their entourages, would not share one aircraft.

Mr Van Rompuy, Belgium's former prime minister before he took the EU post, did not offer Mr Barroso space on an aircraft supplied to him by the Belgian air force at cheap rates.

Instead, Mr Barroso was forced to charter a 15-seater plane, said to be a Learjet, at high commercial rates to carry himself, Baroness Ashton, the EU's trade commissioner and a group of officials to Russia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...rate-jets.html

I wouldn't precisely call the Telegraph a reliable source on EU matters. It's actually a frequent matter of precaution to have two top-level officers of the same entities NOT fly with the same plane, because should there be an accident or terror attack, the effect would be drastic. Consider what would have happened in Poland if BOTH Kaczynski brothers had been on that fateful plane (in addition to all the ministers who had been on it). Talk about a country beheaded.

As for the initial article, I wonder if those who criticised the spending have ever checked the corresponding spendings of their own national government.

[Dubh the dark]

As for the initial article, I wonder if those who criticised the spending have ever checked the corresponding spendings of their own national government.

Yes they did;

Election Expenses
In July the Bureau worked with British-based Channel 4 News to highlight possible manipulations of UK general election expenses by prospective members of parliament. Aired over two successive weeks, the reports pinpointed numerous cases of possible breaches of Electoral Commission guidelines by several MPs, predominantly by shifting the cost of promotional materials from one campaign account to another. The investigation focused in particular on Richmond Park's Conservative Party MP, Zac Goldsmith. Possible inconsistencies in his campaign team's accounting of expenses led to an ongoing (as at 14/12/2010) investigation by the Electoral Commission. Other inquries were undertaken by the Commission as a result of the Bureau/Channel 4 report, notably into the campaign expenses of government minister Sarah Teather. However, the Commission found no evidence of impropriety.

Public Pay
In September the Bureau unveiled the largest single database on senior public sector salaries ever produced. The culmination of an exhaustive eight-month data and Freedom of Information trawl, over 38,000 public sector jobs paying over £100,000 per year were listed. An episode of BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Panorama, was produced as a result of the investigation and an exclusive, searchable database of senior pay packets was placed on the BBC News website.

Iraq War Logs
In October 2010 the Bureau produced two television reports on the occupation of Iraq between 2004-2009 after access to an unprecedented 400,000 US “significant action” reports was given by whistleblower's website Wikileaks. As the broadcasting arm of the uniquely collaborative project, the Bureau produced a package of six five-minute reports for an Al Jazeera (Arabic) special, and an hour-long documentary for Channel 4’s main current affairs show, Dispatches. The Bureau also produced an exclusive and dedicated war log website.

Tory Party funding
In 2011 the Bureau began investigating the funding of the UK Conservative party. It found that 50 per cent of donations came from the financial service sector, with such funding totaling £47.76 million since 2005. In addition, 57 individuals from the financial services sector were found to have donated 50,000 GBP each to the Tory party, entitling them to membership of the Leader's Club, which includes such privileges as access to Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior figures. The findings raise uncomfortable questions about the impartiality of decision makers as they set about reforming and regulating the banking industry in the wake of the the Global Financial Crisis.
NHS reforms

As of mid-2011 the Bureau is conducting a series of investigations into the UK's National Health Service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_...ive_Journalism

Let me add however no-one should have to criticise a national government before looking at the EU. That's a ludicrous suggestion.

Edit; The point of the separate plane scandal is that it exposed a feud amongst Barroso and Van Rompuy, it isn't EU policy to fly separately - here's some alternative sources relating to the Russia trip if you don't like the Telegraph - although any media outlet I mention will have detractors.

http://euobserver.com/9/32478
http://www.bucharestherald.ro/worldn...separate-jets-
http://www.independent.ie/world-news...t-2670992.html

[calicheSCOT]

What the investigative journalists should be looking at is the personal expenses of MEP's, commisioners and their staff. I've heard first hand stories about what goes on that makes the Westminster expenses scandal look like a kid claiming pocket money.

[Dubh the dark]

What the investigative journalists should be looking at is the personal expenses of MEP's, commisioners and their staff. I've heard first hand stories about what goes on that makes the Westminster expenses scandal look like a kid claiming pocket money.

Being looked at;

A LEAKED internal report has revealed systematic abuses by Euro MPs of parliamentary allowances that enable them to pocket more than £1m in profits from a single five-year term, writes Jonathan Oliver.

The auditor’s confidential report, suppressed by the Brussels parliament, discloses the extraordinary frauds used by MEPs to siphon off staff allowances funded by taxpayers.
It shows that some claimed for paying assistants of whom no record exists, awarded them bonuses of up to 1½ times annual salary and diverted public money into front companies.

An investigation into the abuses of staff allowances worth up to £182,000 a year — many of which are paid by MEPs to members of their family — was delivered in January last year but was not published.
A copy of the 92-page report, prepared by Robert Galvin, the parliament’s head of internal audit, has been seen by The Sunday Times. It reveals:

Payments were made to assistants who were not accredited with the European parliament and to companies whose accounts showed no activity.

End-of-year bonuses worth up to 19½ times monthly salary were paid to assistants to allow members to use up their full annual allowance.

Payments, supposedly for secretarial work, were made to a crèche whose manager happened to be a local politician from the MEP’s political party.

Payments were made straight into the coffers of national political parties.
Some assistants doubled their money by banking pay-offs from outgoing MEPs at the same time as receiving salaries from incoming ones.

One MEP claimed to have paid the full £182,000 staff allowance to one person, suspected of being a relative.

http://wikileaks.ch/wiki/Secret_repo..._make_millions

[calicheSCOT]

Being looked at;

A LEAKED internal report has revealed systematic abuses by Euro MPs of parliamentary allowances that enable them to pocket more than £1m in profits from a single five-year term, writes Jonathan Oliver.

The auditor’s confidential report, suppressed by the Brussels parliament, discloses the extraordinary frauds used by MEPs to siphon off staff allowances funded by taxpayers.
It shows that some claimed for paying assistants of whom no record exists, awarded them bonuses of up to 1½ times annual salary and diverted public money into front companies.

An investigation into the abuses of staff allowances worth up to £182,000 a year — many of which are paid by MEPs to members of their family — was delivered in January last year but was not published.
A copy of the 92-page report, prepared by Robert Galvin, the parliament’s head of internal audit, has been seen by The Sunday Times. It reveals:

Payments were made to assistants who were not accredited with the European parliament and to companies whose accounts showed no activity.

End-of-year bonuses worth up to 19½ times monthly salary were paid to assistants to allow members to use up their full annual allowance.

Payments, supposedly for secretarial work, were made to a crèche whose manager happened to be a local politician from the MEP’s political party.

Payments were made straight into the coffers of national political parties.
Some assistants doubled their money by banking pay-offs from outgoing MEPs at the same time as receiving salaries from incoming ones.

One MEP claimed to have paid the full £182,000 staff allowance to one person, suspected of being a relative.

http://wikileaks.ch/wiki/Secret_repo..._make_millions

Yep, doesn't surprise me in the least. I know Its common practice to bring a sleeping bag and a pull-out bed to your office so you can pocket your accomodation allowance, which is not un-substantial if you claim for it the right way.

Good to see the dirty practices getting the spotlight, could have come sooner though.

+Rep for the find.

[Armenum]

It's shame such money has been spent in such a way given the financial status of EU, but how much do these extravagant spending really affect the entire EU budget? Even if they begin spending money more economically will that difference in spending really make a significant impact on the EU budget and financial situation as a whole? Or is this merely a symbolic wrong?

[Dubh the dark]

It's shame such money has been spent in such a way given the financial status of EU, but how much do these extravagant spending really affect the entire EU budget? Even if they begin spending money more economically will that difference in spending really make a significant impact on the EU budget and financial situation as a whole? Or is this merely a symbolic wrong?

They are asking for a 4.9% increase in the Commission's budget, claiming they can't afford to operate. Also power is being given to levy taxes on EU States.

If they have a record of wastage giving them the power to collect taxes is worrying.

[Armenum]

They are asking for a 4.9% increase in the Commission's budget, claiming they can't afford to operate. Also power is being given to levy taxes on EU States.

If they have a record of wastage giving them the power to collect taxes is worrying.

Of course, it doesn't look good, but my question is, if they had spent their money more "economically" how much impact would that difference really have had on the Commission's budget? Money could always be wasted more deeply on less obvious things...

[Dubh the dark]

Of course, it doesn't look good, but my question is, if they had spent their money more "economically" how much impact would that difference really have had on the Commission's budget? Money could always be wasted more deeply on less obvious things...

Here's the 2011 budget;

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/figures/2011/2011_en.cfm

I'd need a better breakdown of expenditure in order to answer your question in detail, but fiscal transparency in the EU is notoriously bad. These figures so far presented throughout the thread, were obtained through investigative methods, which if applied to spending overall, I'm sure would be equally as bad.

[Basil II the B.S]

The EU foreign minister is the world’s highest paid female politician, earning £230,000 a year. Her demands for more cash were branded “ludicrous” by Mr Lidington last month.

There is no such a thing as EU foreign minister. The position was scrapped along with the EU Constitution.
The Telegraph should pay more attention and avoid hiring ignorant journalists, otherwise the credibility of its articles will be easily demolished.

edit: not to mention that the budget is approved by the Parliament and the Council, blame your own politicians.

Hell, if we want to look at wasted money, we should probably look at the UK Correction.

[Dubh the dark]

There is no such a thing as EU foreign minister. The position was scrapped along with the EU Constitution.
The Telegraph should pay more attention and avoid hiring ignorant journalists, otherwise the credibility of its articles will be easily demolished.

edit: not to mention that the budget is approved by the Parliament and the Council, blame your own politicians.

Hell, if we want to look at wasted money, we should probably look at the UK Correction.

The Telegraph didn't conduct the investigation, so the credibility of the facts isn't on them as such.

Also Ashton is offically titled the High Repersentative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, which is nothing but a foreign minister with a fancier title;

Where foreign policy is agreed between EU member states, the High Representative can speak for the EU in that area, such as negotiating on behalf of the member states. The Representative co-ordinates the work of the European Union Special Representative as well as other appointments such as anti-terrorist co-ordinator.


Beside representing the EU at international fora and co-ordinating the Common Security and Defence Policy, the High Representative is:

• ex-officioVice President of the European Commission
• responsible of the European Union Special Representatives
• head of the External Action Service and the delegations
• President of the Foreign Affairs Council
• Secretary-General of the Western European Union
• President of the European Defence Agency
• Chairperson of the board of the European Union Institute for Security Studies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Re...ecurity_Policy

[Basil II the B.S]

The Telegraph didn't conduct the investigation, so the credibility of the facts isn't on them as such.

Also Ashton is offically titled the High Repersentative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, which is nothing but a foreign minister with a fancier title;

Where foreign policy is agreed between EU member states, the High Representative can speak for the EU in that area, such as negotiating on behalf of the member states. The Representative co-ordinates the work of the European Union Special Representative as well as other appointments such as anti-terrorist co-ordinator.


Beside representing the EU at international fora and co-ordinating the Common Security and Defence Policy, the High Representative is:

• ex-officioVice President of the European Commission
• responsible of the European Union Special Representatives
• head of the External Action Service and the delegations
• President of the Foreign Affairs Council
• Secretary-General of the Western European Union
• President of the European Defence Agency
• Chairperson of the board of the European Union Institute for Security Studies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Re...ecurity_Policy

Exactly. High Representative, not Minister. Using the words of EU Federalists, an EU Foreign Minister would ''allow EU to speak with a single voice'' (always, not only in the random few occasions everyone agrees), meaning way more restrictions in the conduction of the foreign policy of members states. There is a reason if the EU Constitution didn't pass, and the Treaty of Lisbon did. They are pretty much the same, except for minor differences, especially in the choice of words (no longer Constitution, but Treaty, and of course, this one.)

I don't think it takes a genious to understand the difference between a state foreign minister, and a high representative ''backed'' by France saying ''yay'', Germany saying ''nay'' and UK saying ''whatever is the prevalent opinion of continental Europe, we beg to differ''.

[pajomife]

Nothing is better than those good examples who come from above, im very happy to see that my vote and my money are usefull, and provide a better life for people who deserve it.

[Dubh the dark]

Nothing is better than those good examples who come from above, im very happy to see that my vote and my money are usefull, and provide a better life for people who deserve it.

Yeah, just be happy you even know about it;

It is for the Commission to decide whether a document is
released or not. Third parties can be consulted in case of doubt –
but the Commission has the last word.


http://www.eu-facts.org/en/pdf/inter...trade-2009.pdf