The cabinet is to introduce a new tax on Dutch members of the European parliament to make sure they don’t earn more than their national parliamentary colleagues, the home affairs ministry said on Wednesday.

The decision stems from changes in the way MEPs are to be paid from 2009. From next July, MEPs will earn €7,412 euros a month, plus expenses and pension contributions. Their salary will be paid by the EU itself.
At the moment member states pay MEPs the same salary as national parliament members – Dutch MEPs currently earn €86,000 a year.