§ Sir Peter FryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contributions are required from United Kingdom public funds for pensions of United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament;640W what qualifications are required for drawing such pensions; and to what extent increased pensions are financed through voluntary contributions. [4925]
§ Mr. David DavisPension arrangements for United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament are analogous to those for Members of the House of Commons. They are financed by the Exchequer and by contributions from individual MEP's at a rate of 6 per cent. of basic salary. Pensions are normally payable from age 65, based upon the MEPs, length of service and salary during the last 12 months in office. Opportunities are provided for MEPs to transfer service from other pension schemes, to purchase added years, and to make additional voluntary contributions, subject to Inland Revenue limits. Pension payments from UK public funds to former UK MEPs and dependants amounted to £159,000 in 1994–95, with a further –117,000 paid in transfer valued to other schemes.
MEPs may also subscribe to the EP's additional voluntary pensions scheme, two-thirds of payments to which are made from the EP section of the EC budget and one-third by the MEP. MEPs may draw a pension from this scheme from the age of 60 and after ceasing to hold office, if they have paid personal contributions for five years or more. The 1997 EC draft budget includes 11.6 million ecu, or £8.9 million, for EP payments to the scheme. The UK contribution is not hypothecated to individual budget lines, but expressed as a gross contribution to the total EC budget. The expected cost to the UK of abated expenditure such as administration is about 5 per cent. of the total.
§ Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the cost in the last 12 months of sending Ministers and officials to meetings in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe in connection with his Department's handling of EU business. [4945]
§ Mr. DavisJourneys to European destinations are not recorded according to the purpose of the visit and the information requested could therefore be made available only at disproportionate cost.