Every year, Swedish EU parliamentarians receive close to SEK 700,000, tax-free, in so-called “office allowance”.
– This money is traditionally put in the parliamentarians’ pockets, without accounting, says the Center Party’s Emma Wiesner.
Each member of the EU parliament has an annual salary of the equivalent of around SEK 1,400,000, in addition they receive almost SEK 700,000 in so-called office allowance, which is completely tax-free. The idea of the allowance is for the parliamentarians to cover costs for telephones, computers and the purchase of pens and other things.
The EU does not require parliamentarians to report how they used the money. The Center Party’s EU parliamentarian Emma Wiesner is one of those who openly reports her receipts.
– These are fantasy sums that cannot be done away with, says Emma Wiesner.
As an example, she says that she sat as an EU parliamentarian for half a term and that she has approximately one million kroner left from the office allowance, which she has not used and with which she can now do what she wants.
– I have decided that I will donate all the money that is left of the office money to Ukraine, says Emma Wiesner.
Refuses to answer how the money was used
TV4 Nyheterna has sent out a survey to all Swedish EU politicians who have been in office since the last election and asked if they would like to tell us how they used the tax money they received. The Center Party, the Liberals, the Left Party and the Green Party are willing to show receipts for how they used the office money, while the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats refuse.
– We do not hand out receipts because they provide information about who I have met in the service, for example who I have had coffee with. It’s something I promised those I met to be discreet about, says the Sweden Democrats’ EU parliamentarian Charlie Weimers.
The Christian Democrats’ David Lega tells TV4 Nyheterna that he does not want to appear for any interview. In the survey, he answers that he does not intend to show any receipts or pay back any tax money.
Sara Skyttedal, who for some time is no longer a Christian Democrat, says that she thinks it is reasonable that the funds are used in the right way, but that it is another matter to hand out every single receipt to dissenters.
Neither the Moderates nor the Social Democrats want to say how they used the tax money. Both parties have instead chosen to handle the accounting internally within the party.
The Moderates’ EU parliamentarian Tomas Tobé believes that the office allowance functions roughly like a party support and that Swedish parties in Sweden do not report exactly how they are used either.
– We follow the order we have at home in Sweden, says the Social Democrats’ EU parliamentarian Heléne Fritzon to TV4 Nyheterna.