Members "helping themselves"

The "remuneration ruling" delivered by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1975 expressly obliged Members to set the level of remuneration they receive themselves – and to do so "before the eyes of the public". This system, seen by some as an opportunity for Members to "help themselves" to as much money as they wish, has actually led to a situation in which Members today earn about € 950 less a month than the mayors, judges and senior civil servants who are cited explicitly as comparable groups in the Act on the Legal Status of the Members of the German Bundestag.

However strange it may sound: the Members of the German Bundestag would gladly give up their prerogative of deciding for themselves how much they should be paid. They would be satisfied if they had benefited from rising wages and salaries to the same degree as others over the last two decades.

In 1975, the Federal Constitutional Court expressly granted Members an entitlement to remuneration that "permits a standard of living appropriate in view of the significance of their office.” And this is precisely what is at stake: Remuneration that does justice to Members’ achievements, the intensity with which they work, the long hours they put in and, above all, the responsibilities shouldered by elected popular representatives.