EP refuses to release details of Euro MPs' expenses
29 European journalists have filed a complaint with the European Court of Justice after the European Parliament failed to disclose information about the expenses of 751 Euro MPs. The journalists that include reporters working for the Flemish international development magazine MO* met a wall of silence when they tried to discover how Euro MPs spend taxpayers' money.
The group of 29 asked the European Parliament (EP) to provide information relating to the Euro MPs expenditure during the past four years. The EP said it didn't keep the information and wanted to protect the privacy of Euro MPs. It also argued that releasing the documents would be too much work.
It's believed the EP forks out nearly 40 million euros in expenses to Euro MPs. The expenses come in addition to the Euro MPs' monthly salary of 8,000 euros.