Salarishervorming leden Europees Parlement geblokkeerd door Duitsland (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The controversial issue of the reform of MEPs pay has been postponed until later this month after member states failed to reach an agreement.

Meeting in Brussels on Thursday (15 January), EU ambassadors broke off without agreement after Germany refused to lift its opposition to a new system which would see all MEPs getting a basic salary of 9053,32 euros per month.

A German diplomat told the EUobserver that Berlin opposed the plans because setting the salary at such a high level "would be impossible to communicate in a positive way to people".

"We want to encourage people to participate in the [European] elections and at these times MEPs' salaries are always mentioned", continued the diplomat.

Domestic politics

However, German domestic politics also played a role. It is a difficult period just now as controversial health care reform has just been pushed through in the country meaning that its citizens have to contribute more to the state coffers for their healthcare - it is unlikely that they would take kindly to a hike in MEPs' salaries.

More generally, concern has been expressed about where the European Parliament will get the between 80-100 million euro extra from the EU budget. Berlin is not convinced that it will be able to find the money.

Germany's refusal to toe the line on the issue - with some support from Austria - means that the year long dispute between the Parliament and member states continues.

Gravy train

At the moment, MEPs get a salary in line with those of their national counterparts. This means that while Italians MEPs get around 12,000 euro a month their Spanish counterparts have to make do with about 2,500 euro a month - colleagues from the new member states, meanwhile, get on average 800 euro a month.

The reform in the pay system also involved reforming the travel expense system. The current system is extremely opaque allowing deputies to make money on the sly by claiming back more expenses than were actually used.

Embroiled in legal technicalities

The Irish Ambassador, whose country holds the EU Presidency, has deferred the whole question to a meeting of EU foreign ministers on 26 January.

However, the matter has also become embroiled in legal technicalities as Germany is claiming that the whole question must be decided by unanimity as there are some elements of the statute involving tax issues.

Other countries say that it can be decided by qualified majority voting as tax issues form just a small part of the overall package.

"It's a complete mess", said one EU diplomat to the EUobserver.

If the issue is not resolved before the June European Parliament elections, MEPs are likely to get an extremely hard time from their respective electorates as they try and convince them they are not part of the 'Brussels gravy train'.