Not all MEPs participated in this potential windfall in the same way. Transparency International found that MEPs on the right and center were more likely to accept cash and earn more than those on the left. (Uspaskich, the top outside hire, is not aligned with any political group — ever since he was kicked out of Renew in 2021 for making comments the liberal group deemed homophobic.)
Among the MEPs collecting the money is Geoffroy Didier, a French MEP from the conservative European People’s Party. He earns €115,200 per year at the law firm CARLARA, which has offices in Paris and Brussels. The firm’s specialties, according to its website, include the life sciences and chemical sectors, EU regulatory litigation, and assisting “EU public authorities before and after regulation.”
Didier did not respond to questions about how he avoids conflicts related to his legislative duties, which include membership in the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee and alternate membership in the Internal Market and Development Committee. consumer protection.
Socialist and democratic MEP Marek Belka, former prime minister and finance minister of Poland, rakes in more than €21,000 a year from giving speeches. Board memberships make up the rest of his €105,418 in additional income. Among them, the Polish branch of the Vienna Insurance Group, registered to put pressure on institutions.
In an email, Belka acknowledged that there could be some overlap with the insurance sector and its work in the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Yet Belka advises VIG only on finances and management, not on lobbying, he said, emphasizing a “very strict internal code of conduct” to avoid conflicts, such as avoiding rapporteur roles and voting only on the S&D party line on insurance issues.
“When it comes to potential conflicts between my side jobs and my work in Parliament, I make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.
Politico
