The Direct Bank Transfer

1. Get yourself elected as a Member of the European Parliament. It makes no difference which political party you are affiliated with.

2. Inform the Parliament’s Directorate General of Finance your bank account details. This can be any back account in the EU; though the Parliament suggests this not be the MEPs own personal bank account it certainly can be and remains so by default.

3. Have the Parliament deposit €4,320 per month into the account. And this is just the general expenditure allowance, intended to cover expenditure in the Member State of election, such as Members’ office management costs. Plus, as a MEP, you also have a monthly salary (€6,400) and your travel expenses covered.

In real life

Who knows how much is spent on office expenses? No one, as the Parliament has not a single financial control mechanism in place to ensure MEPs are spending this allowance within the rules.