Romanian Lawmakers Spent An Avg EUR7,000/Month In 2007

The Institute for Public Policies presented Thursday its most recent report on public costs for all the activities of a lawmaker in the interval November 2006 - May 2008.

 

"From the analysis of incomplete and hard to decipher information regarding indemnities, accommodation in Bucharest, in hotels or other places, expenses for offices, presence in Parliament, travels, phone bills etc., the Institute for Public Policies calculated the monthly expenses of a lawmaker in 2007, which came in at 24,237 lei, or some EUR7,000 euro," the report states.

 

Institute manager Violeta Alexandru said she does not find the sum too high, considering that lawmakers in other EU member states get about EUR7,000 just as their salary, but accused the lack of control of these expenses.

 

She said the sum destined for a lawmaker office is EUR2,700 per month, which is not much “if the lawmaker has a sustained activity. But this money isn’t managed efficiently,” she said.

 

Alexandru said there are cases when lawmakers don’t spend all the money available for territorial offices, which suggests, in her opinion, two hypotheses: lawmakers have private funds, which could translate into influence peddling, or lawmakers don’t do their duty toward their voters.

 

Alexandru also urged the Parliament to be more transparent when spending public money and post this information on the websites of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.