Poolse europarlementariërs voorlopig zonder salaris (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Newly arrived Polish members of the European Parliament are unlikely to receive salaries for up to a month due to administrative problems in Warsaw.

MEPs salaries are paid by the home parliaments but all office expenses, assistants' salaries and other administrative costs are covered by the European Parliament.

However, the finance ministry in Poland has not passed the necessary legislation to ensure that the MEPs receive their salaries.

Nor are the new Brussels arrivals likely to receive the required health insurance.

Zbigniew Kuzmiuk, a Polish MEP from the centre-right European People's Party, said that he did not know when he would be paid.

"From 15 June, we have not received any salary and we are also not part of the the health insurance scheme", he told the EUobserver.

"It's not like I am in a situation where I cannot afford to buy bread, but I hope I don't get sick", he said.

A spokeswoman for the Polish ministry for European integration, Ewa Haczyk, said that the problem would be resolved "as soon as possible" but admitted that the necesary decisions to enable the salaries had not yet been taken.

Polish MEPs could expect to be paid a basic salary of 9000 Polish zloty per month - just under 2000 euro. This does not include extra allowances, which would push the amount slightly higher.