NIKOSIA – It probably won’t bring him any friends among his colleagues but a free-spirited new Member of the European Parliament for Cyprus, 24-year-old Phidias Panayiotou, said the job brings an astounding 720,000 euros ($780,036) a year.

That doesn’t all go to him directly but the social media star, known as Fidias, who rose to stardom after running on a platform saying he knew nothing about the Parliament or politics, said in a post that’s the total of benefits for the position.

“Initially, I receive 8000 euros ($8667) net, and additionally, for each working day, meaning each day I come to the Parliament and sign in, I get an extra 350 euros ($379.18) which is a bit peculiar,” he said, reported Proto Thema.

https://en.protothema.gr/2024/07/06/phidias-panayiotou-reveals-his-earnings-as-an-mep/

MEP’s are based in Brussels but there are also sessions in a vast headquarters in Strasbourg, France for the 720-member body that has relatively few powers but looks over the budget and has worked to keep its benefits out of sight.

“Besides that, I receive 30,000 ($32,521) euros a month for my team’s salaries. Furthermore, I can have an office in my home country, for which the Parliament allocates a budget of up to 5000 euros ($5420,)” he added

“I am also given 4000 euros ($43360 per month to promote the work I do here in Parliament. Another interesting fact is that I receive 10,000 euros ($10,40) a month to bring people to the Parliament and explain what we do here,” he said.

Besides financial perks, he also has a car and driver assigned to take him around Brussels as he needs and is paid to go back and forth from Cyprus, making the job all the sweeter although largely voiceless in such a large body.

At the end of the video, he posed the question likely on at least some constituent’s minds if they even think about the EU Parliament as they struggle to get by daily: “Do you think we are overpaid for what we do or underpaid?”

As an independent candidate going against the mainstream establishment he got almost 20 percent of the vote to finish third on Cyprus in winning the seat, beating some historical parties in a surprise.