Estonian MEP rejects claims of failure to declare additional income amount
Several MEPs have declared additional income but failed to disclose the exact amount. According to Politico, Estonian MEP Riho Terras is among them. Terras rejected the claims and sent confirmation of his declaration to ERR.
According to the MEPs' code of conduct, lawmakers are supposed to declare any money they make outside of the European Parliament if it's over €5,000 a year. MEPs earn €8,088 a month after tax and insurance contributions are deducted.
Transparency International shared with Politico the names of 14 MEPs who had not listed that income, among them Isamaa's Riho Terras (EPP).
Raphaël Kergueno, senior policy officer at Transparency International, said: "Without proper monitoring of MEPs' declarations and sanctioning for breaches to the code of conduct, EU citizens are left relying on MEPs' promises alone. The results of this speak for themselves."
Terras, who had flagged some potential dividends, told the publication that "everything has been declared."
Terras subsequently sent documents to ERR confirming that he had made the required declaration.
Other MEPs mentioned include Alvise Pérez, a Spanish far-right lawmaker who moonlights as a corruption-hating influencer; Mario Mantovani, an Italian MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists who has had three consulting roles in addition to his parliamentary post; and Michał Wawrykiewicz, a long-time EU lawyer from the European People's Party who has had clients in the retail, property, telecoms and rail sectors, Politico reports.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Michael Cole
Source: Politico
