The Bureau’s latest investigation details expenditure from the European Financial Transparency System (FTS).
The FTS was initiated in 2005 under the European Transparency Initiative (ETI) however the database remains incomplete and inaccurate.
The Bureau has worked for three months to bring you specific EU Commission expenditure in specific areas.
Below are links to some of the most topical data uncovered through our research.
The data should be approached with caution as some figures may not refer to one item of expenditure but to a cumulative amount of expenditure over a period of time. The FTS does not make that distinction and all the data is presented with the same degree of detail as it is by the EU Commission.
Read more of the data from our investigation below, arranged in spending themes.
EU Commission Expenditure – Jets *
EU Commission Expenditure – Limousines
EU Commission Expenditure – Golf
EU Commission Expenditure – Wine
EU Commission Expenditure – Orchestras
EU Commission Expenditure – Resorts
EU Commission Expenditure – Away Days
EU Commission Expenditure - Banquets
The EU Commission is made up of 27 Commissioners, one from each of the member states, and about 25,000 European civil servants. It acts as the EU’s cabinet and some of its main purposes are to implement legislation for Europe and the day to day running of the Union and its funding programs.
The EU Commission rules on spending can be seen here.
The Commission sits in Brussels, and is entirely funded by the EU taxpayer.
* All the data relating to private jet travel is based on expenses information available for “Abelag Aviation NV”, the Commission’s main supplier of private jet travel services.
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June 2nd, 2011 at 2:41 pm (#)
[...] EUROCRATS spent €7.5m (£6.6m) [56 millioner danske kroner] on private jets in four years and €20,000 on gifts during 2008-2010, including Tiffany jewellery and fountain pens, according to data collected by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism The figures, which were mostly obtained via parliamentary questions asked by independent Austrian MEP Martin Ehrehauser, also show that that European Commission president José Manuel Barroso racked up a €28,000 bill during a four-night stay at the New York Peninsula Hotel with eight assistants. The EC that he runs also blew €300,000 on “cocktail parties” in 2009 alone. One event subsidised by EU taxpayers cost €75,000 and promised guests “state-of-the-art technology, challenging art, combined with trendy cocktails, surprising performances and top DJs”.EU expenses include €7.5m on private jets Det hele her: Vin, golf, orkeste, limousiner m.m: EU Commission Expenses: Cocktail parties, private jets, luxury away-days and limousines. [...]
June 4th, 2011 at 2:18 am (#)
The EU is good for one thing: Creating huge, non-elected bureaucracies and amazing expenses paid by people who never elected those bureaucrats!
I wonder how they hid the expenses for the prostitutes…or are they there in plain sight? If you spot them, plz let me know
Like any other good socialist…they are good in spending other people’s money!
Brighton, Michigan, US
June 5th, 2011 at 1:35 am (#)
After reading some of this data and reflecting about it, all I can say is that any portuguese who gets to see this and thinks about it has to be ashamed of having someone from our own country having his face right in the middle of these scandals.
Even if we in Portugal, after asking for help, don’t want the bashing from other countries on their jokes, we do deserve it, it’s sad but true… And an even bigger problem is that we’re not the only ones having these politcians, it’s a worldwide problem…
June 7th, 2011 at 9:19 am (#)
Snouts in Troughs!
Not an insult to the humble Pig, rather a reference to George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’.
Who can possibly trust the Belgians anyway, look at the horrendous mess they made of the Congo.