International

Salaries of European Union officials and executives should be substantially lower, said SP Member of Parliament and European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel during Tuesday evening's debate on the EU's top jobs.

“The President of the European Council will soon earn just what the President of the European Commission earns,” Van Bommel pointed out. “That's around €360,000 ($530,000/£319,000) per year, twice the salary of the Dutch Prime Minister and almost a €100,000 more, for example, than US President Barak Obama. This is an absurdly high sum. As far as I am concerned, it should be a great deal lower.”

The SP has long fought against excessive remuneration in the public sector. “Obviously this applies at European level as much as it does at home,” said Van Bommel. “There too, such salaries are paid from taxpayers' money. I want to see our government taking a strong stand in the European Union in favour of a substantially lower salary régime.”