Matthew Vella
The Maltese EU Commissioner Joe Borg can expect to rake in a cool million-euro pension over his lifetime if he leaves his posting in the coming October.
According to research from British think-tank Open Europe, Commissioners like Borg will be in for hefty ‘transitional’ and ‘resettlement allowances’ on top of a generous pension that will make the former foreign minister Malta’s highest paid pensioner.
Upon leaving office, Borg will be entitled to a resettlement allowance of €19,909 – what is in effect one month’s salary for Commissioners.
His travel expenses and moving costs back to Malta from Brussels will also be reimbursed.
For the next three years of his retirement from the Commission, Borg will receive a ‘transitional allowance’ which is between 40-65% of the final basic salary, depending on the length of service and subject to Community tax.
The allowance is expected to be €358,378 over the next the three years, but it is also capped. This means that if Borg takes up any new gainful activity, the amount of his new job’s salary, added together with the allowance, cannot exceed the remuneration of a member of the Commission.
Borg will then be entitled to a life pension upon reaching 65, which will also be subject to Community tax. The annual pension will be of €51,068.
By the age of 81, Borg will have earned €852,851 in pension payments apart from his resettlement and transitional allowances, which bring the total up to €1.4 million.
Pension rights depend on the length of a Commissioner’s term in office and amounts are calculated as 4.275% of the basic salary for every full year in office, but must not exceed 70% of the final basic salary.
During his tenure, Borg received an annual salary of €238,919 – just €50,000 shy of US president Barack Obama’s $400,000 salary. The Commissioner’s salary is also subject to Community tax.
Borg also received an annual residence allowance of €35,837 (15% of his salary), and an annual entertainment allowance of €7,284.
In total, the Commissioner earned a gross €1,410,204 salary over the past five years.
Borg might be one of some 20 Commissioners who will retire at the end of this Commission’s mandate, with Permanent Representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana being tipped for the lucrative job of Commissioner.
In total, the team of 27 European Commissioners headed up by President Jose Barroso has cost some €76 million in this five-year term – including salaries, pensions, and the various allowances. This does not include other perks that Commissioners receive during their service, such as family allowances and subsistence allowances. The pension costs alone amount to more than €36 million.
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