The European Commissioners defied the crisis, spending 9 million on private jets, luxury vacations, limousines and extravagant parties, according to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit organization based in London.
The 27 members of the EU executive have traveled in limousines, stayed at five star hotels and spent money on expensive gifts, including jewelry from Tiffany, while their countries have adopted drastic measures during the economic crisis, writes British newspaper the Daily Telegraph.
The investigation of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows that representatives of the European Commission spent more than seven million euros between 2006 and 2010 on private jet flights for the Commissioners.
Catherine Ashton, harshly criticized
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Catherine Ashton, has been widely criticized after it was discovered that she had requested a private plane less than 100 days after she took office in March 2010.
The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso didn’t miss the list: he spent 28,000 euros for four nights in a luxury hotel in New York.
European Commissioners have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on accommodation in five resorts in exotic locations such as Papua New Guinea, Ghana and Vietnam.
The 27 representatives of the EU didn’t save any money in the case of employment of orchestras for parties in Brussels or to buy extravagant gifts for guests, including jewelry from Tiffany.