The Netherlands is one of a number of countries planning to block a planned 3.7% pay rise for the European Union’s 38,000 civil servants, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.

‘The Netherlands will resist this pay rise,’ European affairs minister Frans Timmermans was quoted as saying. ‘At times of economic slowdown it would send out the wrong signal if EU civil servants who are already paid very well get even more.’
The pay rise is calculated by looking at civil service pay averages in eight EU countries, including the Netherlands, plus a special cost of living index for Brussels.
‘This is an objective method,’ a spokesman told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper. ‘But I cannot tell you if the method has ever gone down as well as up.’
Basic salaries for EU commissioners are around €20,000 a month plus allowances and expenses.