Three MPs come clean on expenses
Socialists give full breakdown of where their money goes as UK scandal prompts French interest in parliamentary finances
Three MPs have agreed to publish full details of their expenses online – but the other 574 are keeping quiet.
Socialists Arnaud Montebourg, René Dosière and Jean-Jacques Urvoas have handed over the details, down to the centime, of where their monthly allowance is spent.
The French press has taken a strong interest in MPs’ financial affairs following the scandal that engulfed the UK House of Commons in May.
Finistère MP Jean-Jacques Uvoas published his monthly expenses in a blog post.
He spent the most out of the three - €4,742 a month including parking, hotel rooms, newspaper subscriptions and dry cleaning.
Aisne MP Rene Dosiere came in second with €3,168, followed by Arnaud Montebourg, who represents the Val de Saône on €2,071.
French MPs are entitled to €5,837 a month to cover any costs linked to their work, on top of their €5,200 monthly salary.
The frais de mandat cover items such as travel expenses, rent and bills on a second home, newspaper subscriptions, work meals and office supplies.
The system has been criticised by some. Charles Amédée de Courson, the centrist MP for the Marne who chairs the Assemblée Nationale accounts committee, has described it as “unhealthy”.
He said: “If we do nothing, I give it a year before we have a scandal similar to that in Britain.”
Photo: AFP
