How eight MEPs overruled 540 colleagues on office expenses

The European Parliament has 751 members, each of whom receive a monthly allowance of €4,416 to cover office expenses.

For 2018, the total bill for this lump sum, known as the general expenditure allowance (GEA), comes to €40m. No receipts are kept and scrutiny is minimal.

On 25 October 2017, the parliament adopted a resolution (with a majority of 414 MEPs) saying there should be more transparency regarding how the money is spent.

The plenary asked for three things: that the...