The former president of Europe will get nearly £600,000 of taxpayers’ money for doing nothing, it was reported last night. Herman Van Rompuy, 67, is entitled to the money as a ‘transitional allowance’ over the next three years after finishing his term as European Council president yesterday – to help ‘ease’ him back into life outside Brussels. The Belgian politician will be paid £133,723 a year – 55 per cent of his basic salary – until December 2017, on top of his annual EU pension of £52,000. Herman Van Rompuy is entitled to the money as a ‘transitional allowance’ over the next three years after finishing his term as European Council president yesterday . The Daily Telegraph said last night that Mr Van Rompuy will also receive a £21,000 one-off payment. Under EU rules, Mr Van Rompuy does not have to do any work for his ‘transitional allowance’, which will be eligible for reduced-rate EU ‘community’ tax, rather than the Belgian income tax rate. Mr Van Rompuy has been replaced by Donald Tusk, who is being offered a package of pay and perks which total more than five times what he was earning as Polish Prime Minister. Labour peer Baroness Ashton, who finished her job as the European Commission’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs in October, is receiving the same £133,723 allowance –although, at 58, she is not entitled to a pension. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the payments showed the EU was a ‘racket which looks after its own'. Mr Farage, who in 2010 was fined £2,700 by the European Parliament after he said Mr Van Rompuy had the ‘charisma of a damp rag’, said: ‘Van Rompuy’s term in office has seen millions driven into poverty and unemployment by the eurozone crisis but he himself has hit the jackpot. ‘The EU is a racket which looks after its own.’ Mr Van Rompuy’s golden goodbye is one of several ‘transitional allowances’ being paid out to numerous European Commissioners who are standing down from the last Brussels executive - with the bill totalling £30 million. David Cameron clashed with Mr van Rompuy during his term in office, once calling a halt to a meeting in Downing Street after a disagreement . The Belgian has been replaced by Donald Tusk, who is being offered a package of pay and perks which total more than five times what he was earning as Polish Prime Minister. His wife Malgorzata persuaded Mr Tusk to leave Polish national politics despite his initial reluctance, because of the “prestige, better money and less problems at work”. In his first day in the job, Mr Tusk likened Eurosceptics to the military threat posed by Russia in Ukraine. He spoke of “threats to the EU coming both from outside and inside”, adding: ‘Today not only are eurosceptics questioning the EU’s value, we have also enemies, not only sceptic.’ Mr Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, plans to steer clear of frontline politics in his retirement. He has revealed he will be concentrating on his hobby of writing Haiku poetry - although he will give occasional lectures at the College of Europe in Bruges, which is a training school for EU officials. Labour peer Baroness Ashton is in line for a £133,723 allowance after finishing her job as the European Commission’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs in October. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has replaced Mr van Rompuy . Mr Van Rompuy has been no stranger to enjoying the perks of life as a top Brussels bureaucrat since taking on the post at the end of 2009. On one occasion four years ago, he faced criticism after using his official motorcade - made up of five limousines - to ferry himself and nine members of his family on 325-mile round trip from Brussels to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport for a private holiday in the Caribbean. In June, Mr Van Rompuy clashed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and was ‘shown the door’ at Downing Street after talks about the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission. When Mr van Rompuy refused to guarantee a vote of all 28 EU leaders over whether Mr Juncker should be given the job, Mr Cameron declared there was ‘no point in continuing this meeting’. The European Union last night defended Mr Van Rompuy’s transitional allowance as “the price for the total independence” of senior European Union officials - adding that recipients of ‘transitional allowances’ must also “ask permission for any job they would like to do for 18 months after leaving”.
Ex-President of the European Council given a 'transitional allowance'
The fund is to help ‘ease’ him back into life outside Brussels .
Belgian will be paid £133,723 a year – 55% of his basic salary .
Payments until December 2017 on top of annual EU pension of £52,000 .
The former president of Europe will get nearly £600,000 of taxpayers’ money for doing nothing, it was reported last night. Herman Van Rompuy, 67, is entitled to the money as a ‘transitional allowance’ over the next three years after finishing his term as European Council president yesterday – to help ‘ease’ him back into life outside Brussels. The Belgian politician will be paid £133,723 a year – 55 per cent of his basic salary – until December 2017, on top of his annual EU pension of £52,000. Herman Van Rompuy is entitled to the money as a ‘transitional allowance’ over the next three years after finishing his term as European Council president yesterday . The Daily Telegraph said last night that Mr Van Rompuy will also receive a £21,000 one-off payment. Under EU rules, Mr Van Rompuy does not have to do any work for his ‘transitional allowance’, which will be eligible for reduced-rate EU ‘community’ tax, rather than the Belgian income tax rate. Mr Van Rompuy has been replaced by Donald Tusk, who is being offered a package of pay and perks which total more than five times what he was earning as Polish Prime Minister. Labour peer Baroness Ashton, who finished her job as the European Commission’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs in October, is receiving the same £133,723 allowance –although, at 58, she is not entitled to a pension. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the payments showed the EU was a ‘racket which looks after its own'. Mr Farage, who in 2010 was fined £2,700 by the European Parliament after he said Mr Van Rompuy had the ‘charisma of a damp rag’, said: ‘Van Rompuy’s term in office has seen millions driven into poverty and unemployment by the eurozone crisis but he himself has hit the jackpot. ‘The EU is a racket which looks after its own.’ Mr Van Rompuy’s golden goodbye is one of several ‘transitional allowances’ being paid out to numerous European Commissioners who are standing down from the last Brussels executive - with the bill totalling £30 million. David Cameron clashed with Mr van Rompuy during his term in office, once calling a halt to a meeting in Downing Street after a disagreement . The Belgian has been replaced by Donald Tusk, who is being offered a package of pay and perks which total more than five times what he was earning as Polish Prime Minister. His wife Malgorzata persuaded Mr Tusk to leave Polish national politics despite his initial reluctance, because of the “prestige, better money and less problems at work”. In his first day in the job, Mr Tusk likened Eurosceptics to the military threat posed by Russia in Ukraine. He spoke of “threats to the EU coming both from outside and inside”, adding: ‘Today not only are eurosceptics questioning the EU’s value, we have also enemies, not only sceptic.’ Mr Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, plans to steer clear of frontline politics in his retirement. He has revealed he will be concentrating on his hobby of writing Haiku poetry - although he will give occasional lectures at the College of Europe in Bruges, which is a training school for EU officials. Labour peer Baroness Ashton is in line for a £133,723 allowance after finishing her job as the European Commission’s High Representative of Foreign Affairs in October. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has replaced Mr van Rompuy . Mr Van Rompuy has been no stranger to enjoying the perks of life as a top Brussels bureaucrat since taking on the post at the end of 2009. On one occasion four years ago, he faced criticism after using his official motorcade - made up of five limousines - to ferry himself and nine members of his family on 325-mile round trip from Brussels to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport for a private holiday in the Caribbean. In June, Mr Van Rompuy clashed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and was ‘shown the door’ at Downing Street after talks about the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission. When Mr van Rompuy refused to guarantee a vote of all 28 EU leaders over whether Mr Juncker should be given the job, Mr Cameron declared there was ‘no point in continuing this meeting’. The European Union last night defended Mr Van Rompuy’s transitional allowance as “the price for the total independence” of senior European Union officials - adding that recipients of ‘transitional allowances’ must also “ask permission for any job they would like to do for 18 months after leaving”.
yesterday – to help ‘ease’ him back into life outside Brussels. The Belgian politician will be paid £133,723 a year – 55 per cent of his basic salary – until December 2017, on top of his annual EU pension of £52,000. Herman Van Rompuy ‘transitional allowance’, which will be eligible