More than one in four EU lawmakers receives extra income, and lawmakers with the highest additional income earn more than they do from their parliamentary work, a new report said.
On Monday, the anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI) published findings that stated 16 of the 20 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) with the highest additional income are politically right-wing or tend to be right of centre.
The European Parliament has a total of 705 lawmakers. According to the data, all MEPS earn more than €8.7 million ($9.4 million) per year from secondary employment.
TI senior policy maker Raphaël Kergueno on Monday called for a ban on side jobs saying that they are endangering European democracy.
According to parliamentary figures, the 705 representatives receive about €120,000 per year for their job as legislators or deputies, excluding allowances and before tax. They must disclose any additional income above a certain limit.
EU lawmakers' income has come under scrutiny since investigations began in December 2022 into the former European Parliament vice president Eva Kaili and others for alleged involvement in a criminal organization, money laundering, and corruption.
Media reports revealed that Kaili was found in possession of bags full of cash in a scandal which allegedly involves influence peddling by the governments of Qatar and Morocco.
"How many influence scandals will it take for MEPs to realize that these lucrative side jobs compromise European democracy?" Kergueno said.
"Ahead of the European elections, MEPs must promise citizens they will work for them and pledge to ban these side jobs once and for all.”
The organization highlights the risks associated with conflicts of interest.
According to TI, some EU lawmakers receive remuneration from companies in the same sector in which they focus their parliamentary activities.
The organization names two German politicians, Markus Ferber and Axel Voss as examples.
"For instance, MEP Markus Ferber allegedly offered financial consulting services to banks while working on an update on a directive concerning financial markets," it said.
The report stated that another German politician, Axel Voss, allegely "wrote an opinion on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, all while sitting on the data protection advisory board at German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom."
Ferber told dpa that the statement was "not true" and that there was no conflict of interest. Ferber stated that he received more than €5,000 per month from secondary employment.
Voss told dpa that his additional income comes from an independent body that meets almost four times a year and advises on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation.
The politician had stated that he received between €1,501 and €6,000 per month from sideline activities and did not disclose the exact amount, citing confidentiality clauses.