5 reasons your job as an MEP is less fun than before

This article is part of the Brussels Survival Guide.

Congratulations! As a new member of the European Parliament, you’ve got one of the sweetest gigs in politics: a €10,075-per-month gross salary, a €350-per-day accommodation allowance, a pile of assistants to keep track of all the details and a global gravitas that no national legislature can provide.

All that said, you’ve missed the golden era. A changing work culture in Brussels — partly inspired by Qatargate — means your job won’t be as free-wheeling (and freebie-filled) as it was for your predecessors. 

1. Farewell to friendship groups

Back in the day (read: 2022), you could show your enthusiasm for a country without having to deal with the hassle of sitting on the foreign affairs committee or joining a formal delegation — by becoming a member of a “friendship group.” That provided all the fancy embassy dinners without any inconvenient truths from snooping nongovernmental organizations or official fact-finding missions. Yet these backdoor diplomatic pathways were banned as part of post-Qatargate reforms. 

2. Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure

Eva Kaili’s suitcases full of cash have ruined things for the rest of you. Before, you only had to disclose your meetings with lobbyists if you had an important role on the file under discussion. Now, pretty much everyone — and their assistants — has to log their meetings online.  

Financial declarations have also gotten more invasive. MEPs now have to list more details about their side jobs — “consultant”  won’t cut it anymore — if they pay more than €5,000 a year. You’ll also have to declare all your private assets at the beginning and end of your term. But don’t stress about that too much: It stays private unless you’re accused of wrongdoing. 

The potential penalty for breaking the rules is also double what it was when the last MEP class started: Your daily allowance can be docked up to 60 days. 

3. More journalists hounding you

Eurocrats howled when POLITICO burst onto the scene in 2014 with a big staff of irreverent reporters — and now more are joining the beat. Legacy outlets like Euractiv and Euronews — not to mention newcomers like France’s Contexte and Germany’s Table Media — are making big investments covering European Union institutions and hiring new reporters. That’s going to make it ever harder to ensure that what happens in Brussels stays in Brussels. 

4. Might have to actually show up for work

The previous Parliament cooked up plans to make sure you actually do the job voters sent you to Brussels for. While an idea to cancel debates if fewer than a third of EU lawmakers are present met heavy resistance, the institution is clamping down on drive-by speechifying without actually sitting through the whole debate. New rules require members to be present for a debate at which they’re scheduled to speak. 

5. (Slightly) harder to line up your next job

Job security is a key perk of European lawmaking: Your earning potential remains high even after leaving office, with infinite lobbying and “senior adviser” roles available. Yet post-Qatargate, the revolving door has become a bit squeakier: You’ll have to wait six months after your term ends before you can lobby your former colleagues. Also gone are the permanent Parliament access badges awarded to ex-MEPs; instead, you’ll have to register for a new pass for every visit.