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Dating apps and pet-sitters: What can French MPs claim on expenses?

A French MP recently came under fire for using public funds to pay for things like her dating app subscription and pet-sitting services - while this is not within the scope of official expenses, there are plenty of other perks for French lawmakers.

Published: 13 September 2024 09:57 CEST
Dating apps and pet-sitters: What can French MPs claim on expenses?
The lower house at the France's National Assembly in Paris on July 18, 2024. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

Christine Engrand, a Rassemblement National (RN) MP for Pas-de-Calais, was found to have used her parliamentary stipend – intended for work-related expenses – for personal purchases between 2022 and 2023.

French investigative website, Médiapart, reported that Engrand spent €39 a month on a dating website, pet-sitting for her two dogs while she was in Paris for work (€27 a day), as well as her mother’s funeral expenses (€5,000).

The MP admitted on X that she had used some public funds for private purposes, claiming that she had confused her personal bank card with the professional one and that the expenses in question had been reimbursed.

How does payment for MPs work in France?

MPs are paid a salary, as well as two allowances to cover expenses related to their mandate – the first is the ‘advance for parliamentary expenses’ and the second is the staff credit.

As for the ‘advance’, this totalled €5,950, as of 2024, and it was set up in 2018 to help cover other expenses related to the MP’s mandate that are not directly covered or reimbursed by the Assemblée.

Expenses are verified, and each elected member is audited at least once per parliamentary term.

These funds are meant to be paid into a specific account and the unused portion is put back into the budget of the Assemblée Nationale at the end of their term.

It was this fund that the RN MP used for her personal expenses, which is problematic considering this is only intended to be related to her duties as an elected official.

MPs are also given a monthly budget of €11,118 to pay for the hiring of up to five staff members. It is forbidden to employ family members, but the MP does get to recruit, fire and set the working rules and salaries of staff.

READ MORE: Will my French deputé help me with a local problem?

What about their salaries?

French MPs have been paid salaries since 1938, when the standard was created with the goal of ensuring that députés are able to remain independent and fully focused on their duties as elected officials.

This is called the indemnité parlementaire de base, and it comes out to €5,931.95 (pre tax) per month. On top of that, MPs are given a housing stipend of €177.96 per month, and an indemnité de fonction (duty allowance) which totals €1,527.48.

In total, an MPs gross monthly salary comes out to €7,637.39.

For certain MPs, this can be higher depending on their position. For example, the President of the Assemblée earns €7,698.50.

What about other perks?

The Assemblée Nationale also covers the expenses for French MPs to travel for free along the national rail network (SNCF) in France, in either 1st or 2nd class.

The Assemblée also offers MPs a fleet of a dozen chauffeur-driven vehicles that can be used while travelling in Paris and in the Paris region, subject to their availability, if they are travelling for a work-related purpose.

MPs also benefit from two restaurants and refreshment bar (buvette) that are intended for members of parliament, as well as two self-service cafeterias.

For MPs without accommodation in the Paris area, they can benefit from a reimbursement of up to €1,200 per month when renting a place in Paris, but this location cannot be their main residence and the owner cannot be the MP, their spouse or any family members.

How does that compare to the average French person?

The MP salary is more than four times France’s minimum wage, which is currently set to €1,767 (gross) per month.

Meanwhile, Actu France reported that MP’s salaries come out to more than three times the disposable income of the average French person, which is estimated at €2,028 (gross) per month, citing 2022 INSEE data.

If this is sounding pretty appealing, then you could run for office. Just remember – to be elected to French parliament you must hold French nationality, be at least 18 (for MPs) or 24 (for senators), and not be in “any position of incapacity or ineligibility” such as being under legal guardianship.

It is not required to have been French from birth in order to become an MP (or to become the president for that matter).

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WORLD WAR TWO

Macron and ex-PM Philippe honour bloody liberation of French port

Emmanuel Macron and former prime minister Edouard Philippe, who hopes to succeed the French president in 2027, marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the port of Le Havre from Nazi occupation.

Published: 13 September 2024 09:23 CEST
Macron and ex-PM Philippe honour bloody liberation of French port

The Normandy port of Le Havre was liberated by Allied troops on September 12, 1944, more than three months after the D-Day landings.

Liberation followed intense Allied bombardments a week before that devastated the city and left more than 2,000 of its inhabitants dead.

The political symbolism of Thursday’s ceremony was watched as closely as the historical references, with reportedly glacial relations between Macron and Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre who was Macron’s prime minister from 2017 to 2020, his longest-serving head of government.

Macron said in a speech that Le Havre had never ‘completely healed’ from the bombing, which gave the city “the colour and appearance of ashes, crushed, pulverised”.

He said that in contrast to the sheer jubilation felt in Paris when it was liberated in August 1944, Le Havre felt the, “infinite suffering of a city sacrificed to liberate its country”.

Philippe expressed his “sincere thanks” to Macron for his presence, which showed “the importance that the nation now attaches” to this painful history.

According to the Elysée, this was the first time large-scale ceremonies have been held in Le Havre to mark the liberation, due to the ‘trauma’ caused by the Allied bombardments.

As Macron last week scrambled to find a new prime minister after July’s legislative elections, Philippe, 53, suddenly announced for the first time his intention to stand for president in the next presidential elections.

Macron, 46, was ‘surprised’ by the abruptness and timing of the announcement, even if Philippe’s intention to stand was an open secret, a person close to the president, asking not to be named, told AFP.

Philippe, who leads a centre-right party allied to but not part of Macron’s faction, has since warmly applauded the naming of right-winger Michel Barnier as prime minister and warned the president to give him space to rule.

“To be president (in modern France) does not mean inaugurating chrysanthemums,” Philippe told BFMTV late on Wednesday.

“It does not mean governing. The president must preside, the government must govern.”

Despite those barbs, Philippe greeted Macron with a warm handshake in Le Havre and the president addressed him as, “dear Edouard Philippe”.

Some saw Philippe’s early announcement of his candidacy as a recognition that due to the current political turbulence in France, Macron could even step down before his second and final mandate ends in 2027 and prompt an early presidential election.

The former premier, known to be a keen boxer, had taken the gloves off in his criticism of Macron’s move to call the snap legislative elections, which he described as “poorly thought out, poorly explained, poorly prepared” and which had “killed the presidential majority” in parliament.

An Ifop poll published on Thursday showed that far-right leader Marine Le Pen was ahead in voting intentions for the first round of the 2027 presidential elections but that Philippe was her best-placed challenger.

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