The day that our country has been eagerly awaiting for some time has finally arrived: today the polls opened for the House of Representatives elections. It promises to be an exciting day as polls suggest several parties have a chance of becoming the largest parties. While we eagerly await the results, we answer the interesting question of how much an MP earns each month.
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Salary deputy
Voters can go to a polling station until 9 p.m. today to fill out the famous ballot. The first results from the municipalities will be received soon after the closure and an initial forecast on the distribution of seats will follow later in the evening or at night.
While we have to be patient, we are already focusing on the salary of a Member of Parliament. Actually, one cannot speak of a salary, but of a so-called “remuneration”. The Parliamentary Documentation Center Foundation reports that the basic salary since January 1, 2023 has corresponded to a gross monthly amount of 8,889.89 euros.
However, it doesn’t stop there. There is an additional holiday bonus of 8 percent and a year-end bonus of 8.3 percent. In total, this means compensation of more than 124,000 euros per year for those who move into the House of Representatives after the election.
Members of the House of Representatives are also free to earn additional income through outside activities as long as certain rules are followed. If the income is more than fourteen percent of the compensation, the compensation is reduced by half.
Merits of the chamber and parliamentary group chairman
The House of Representatives is not just made up of the 150 members of the House of Representatives. There is also a chairwoman and her deputy chairmen. The chairman can charge a surcharge of 34 percent on top of the aforementioned remuneration. This results in a total of more than 160,000 per year. The deputy chairmen receive an expense allowance of 1 to 3.5 percent.
The faction leaders or representatives of each political party also earn more than a “regular” member of the House of Representatives. The faction leader receives an additional 1 percent and an additional 0.3 percent per faction member. This can be a maximum surcharge of 11.5 percent on top of the compensation. In practice, this results in an annual maximum amount of 138,260 euros.