European MEPs cost £1.79m a year each The former Swindon MP urged the Government to take a "serious look at its contribution to the cost of running the European Parliament" as it seeks to reduce the deficit. "This is an institution that does not hold proper debates and whose members cannot even introduce a Private Members Bill," he said. It merely acts as a rubber stamp for the unelected European Commission's legislative proposals. The number of MEPs has risen from 736 to 754, since these figures were produced, so even these huge figures fall short of the real cost. David Cameron last year met with resistance when he urged European institutions to cut costs as he went to Brussels to negotiate the next seven years of spending. He called on the Europe Commission, the Brussels civil service, to reduce its budget by sacking staff and cuts the pay of 4,000 officials on six-figure salaries. However, the Commission repeatedly ignored requests from member countries to reduce staffing costs. A commission spokesman told The Daily Telegraph at the time: "We declined as it's a lot of work and waste of time for our staff who busy with more urgent matters. Because of language requirements, we are better educated than national civil servants. We're high fliers not burger flippers.