European Parliament as a luxury retreat

The lack of interest in the European Parliament elections is hardly surprising, writes Ignacio Camacho in the Spanish daily ABC. After all, he notes, for many politicians the European Parliament is akin to a luxury retreat: "For years the European Parliament has served as a privileged retreat, a kind of luxury parking lot for politicians worn out by the struggle of national politics or forced to withdraw in the tug of war of party politics. A seat in the European Parliament is very well paid – at least 7,000 euros plus session fees, expenses and bonuses. You get to travel all over the world and build up a network of contacts that can be very helpful for your business affairs, and although many of its decisions have relatively little real impact they give the title-holders the feeling that they are still active in politics and dealing with issues of huge import. It acts like methadone, alleviating the boss's pre-retirement withdrawal symptoms."

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