MEPs are entitled to a standard pension from their member states, but are also able to opt in to this additional fund if they desire, as 480 currently do. Under the scheme, MEPs pay in €1194 (£1052) a month, which is matched by publicly funded payments of €2388 a month. After a five year term of service, MEPs can expect an annual pension, from the voluntary fund alone, of over €16,000. Combined with their standard MEP pension, they can expect annual payments of over €30,000 from just five years of service. ( Times, 17 April)

However, with the pension fund now facing a shortfall, the leaked note asserts that the, "parliament will assume its legal responsibility to guarantee the right of members of the Voluntary Pension Scheme to the additional pension". To meet this responsibility, the taxpayer could be asked to make up the €120 million shortfall to provide the payments for MEPs' additional pensions.

This voluntary pension scheme has been repeatedly criticised by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) over the last ten years and in its latest report from November 2008, the ECA said that the Parliament should have "clear rules to define the liabilities and responsibilities" of the Parliament and members of the scheme in the case of a deficit. As a result of the mounting criticism, the scheme will not be available to new MEPs taking up their seats from June. ( European Voice Telegraph, 16 April)

The European Parliament has consistently refused to name the beneficiaries of the fund, citing the privacy of the individuals, despite criticism from the European Ombudsman.

Open Europe has today (17/April/09) published a list of MEPs signed up to the fund, obtained by German investigative journalist Hans-Martin Tillack. It reveals that 79 percent of British MEPs and 77 percent of Irish MEPs had signed up to the fund as of December 2007.

To read the full press release, click the link below:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/media-centre/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=103

Meanwhile, following the European Parliament elections in June, UK MEPs are set to receive a pay rise of over £15,000. Under new rules to be introduced under the next session of Parliament, MEPs will no longer have to receive a salary equivalent to national politicians, but can opt for a salary of 38.5% of an ECJ judge's salary. This works out as €91,980 annually, which is worth over £80,000 at current exchange rates because of the collapse in the value of the pound. This is up from the £64,000 current salary, and represents a pay-rise of 22%.

The new rules have caused further controversy because it states that MEPs will now be entitled to claim compensation for business class flights, even on short-distance flights within the EU. Previously, MEPs were entitled to claim the maximum economy fare, regardless of the actual cost of their flight. ( Die Welt, 8 April)
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