African Leaders Declare #39;War #39; On Boko Haram
Nigeria and four neighboring countries vowed to wage "war" against Boko Haram at a security meeting with U.S. and European Union officials in Paris. Follow John O #39;Connor: http://www.twitter.com/Jo...
By: NewsyWorld
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African Leaders Declare 'War' On Boko Haram - Video
Egyptians divided over EU decision to monitor presidential race
The European Union has made a decision to monitor Egypt #39;s presidential election, reversing an earlier one to scale back its operations to just an assessment mission. The development came after...
By: PressTV News Videos
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Egyptians divided over EU decision to monitor presidential race - Video
Street Talk: The public #39;s opinion on the European Union
In a time of growing Euroscepticism, anti-austerity protests and distrust between countries, EU citizens have their say in the run up to voting for the Europ...
By: Zoomin.TV UK
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Street Talk: The public's opinion on the European Union - Video
The Coalition has set the Prime Ministers salary as the upper limit for Whitehall pay, with only a small number of senior officials getting more.
But in Brussels, even mid-ranking administrators can take home more cash than the Prime Minister. The leaked papers show that EU officials in the AD 11 grade, a middle management group, have gross earnings of 112,090, including expatriation and household allowances. But because they pay just 13.4 per cent in tax, they take home 83,357 in net pay.
Those with children will earn substantially more with allowances totalling 7,000 per child each year, meaning many officials with families on lower grades will also earn more than Mr Cameron.
More than 80 per cent of EU officials get a 16 per cent of salary top-up as a perk to compensate them for living in Brussels or Luxembourg for their entire working lives, as well as for household allowances. For an AD11 middle manager, the two allowances are worth more than 1,300 a month.
Officials employed before staff reforms in 2004 are also eligible for additional benefits, taking the number of EU civil servants better paid than Mr Cameron to more than 10,000.
The fact that most Europeans will this week either not vote at all or vote for parties that want to abolish the EU highlights the growing disconnect between the voter and the European institutions, said Chris Howarth, senior policy analyst at the Open Europe think tank.
One immediate action that could establish some goodwill would be for the new European Commission to tackle the issue of overpaid and undertaxed EU bureaucrats.
However, the commission insists the salaries were needed to attract candidates from western European countries. It claims there has been a recruitment crisis, with Britain, for instance, accounting for 12.3 per cent of the EUs population but providing only 1.9 per cent of its officials.
Our headache is maintaining a broad geographical balance, said a spokesman. Were struggling to attract the brightest and best from richer member states, particularly the UK.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, said the high levels of pay showed that Mr Cameron's EU reform agenda was not working. "He just tinkered and failed. The only way to save our country's money and our democracy is to exit the EU," he said.
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10,000 European Union officials better paid than David Cameron
12:01am, Thu 22 May 2014 Voters cast ballots in EU and council elections - last updated Thu 22 May 2014 The Union Jack pictured behind the European Union flag in London. Photo: Tim Ireland/PA
The European election will be held this Thursday giving British voters the chance to decide who will represent them in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Apart from the General Election - which will be held next year - it is the only time all 46 million eligible voters in the UK can take part in a ballot.
But how does the voting system work? How many MEPs will Britain elect? And what happened at the last European election?
Here is a helpful guide that answers all of the key questions on the European election.
You have to be a British citizen or a European Union or Commonwealth resident in the UK to be able to vote in the election.
If you are a British citizen abroad you can vote in European and General Elections for up to 15 years after you have left the country.
To be able to vote in the European election you must be registered and the deadline for registering has now passed. The deadlines for voting by post or by proxy have also passed.
The local council usually sends a registration form to most people living in the UK between September and November every year.
You can vote in the 22 May election by going to your nearest polling station - which is often a community centre or school. Your polling card will have the location of the nearest station.
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All you need to know about the 2014 European election