The pressure is now on EU Ministers to reach an agreement on a common salary for MEPs in time for next June's elections. Earlier in the month, Parliament voted through a proposal for the same salary for all MEPs to be based on the average of the current 15 different amounts and this was presented to EU leaders at the Vienna Summit by Parliament's President Jose Maria Gil Robles.
Austria's Chancellor Viktor Klima undertook to treat the question as a matter of priority and it now goes to the Council of Ministers for further discussions.
At present, MEPs are paid by national governments at the same rate as national members of Parliament but this results in wide discrepancies with Italian MEPs for example paid the equivalent of some €115,620 per year, more than three times the amount of Spanish members on €33,936.
Parliament's proposal is for a figure of €68,000 (£54,600 approximately) with travel costs to be based on expenses incurred. The aim is for the new system to apply to all new MEPs following next June's elections, with existing MEPs who are re-elected, given the right to choose between the new system or continue with the present arrangements for the next parliamentary term.
The same arrangements would apply for pensions. All MEPs would come under the new system following the 2004 elections. The proposal did not however receive the support of British Tory MEPs with group leader Edward McMillan-Scott (UK, EPP) arguing against the need for a European salary. "British MEPs do not work for the European Union. Conservative MEPs work for the British people, should be paid for by the British people and taxed at the same rate as the British people. We will continue to stick to these principles and remain committed to EU reform," he said.