It’s good to be king (or Europe). Former European Council President Herman van Rompuy, derided for “damp rag” ineptness by UKIP’s Nigel Farage, will receive around $900,000 over the next 3 years as a “transition allowance” for doing absolutely nothing in retirement. What is even more egregious, as The Telegraph reports, Van Rompuy will pay a reduced “EU Community” tax rate, considerably lower than the Belgian income tax rate on his ill-gotten gains. As Farage exclaims, having driven millions of Europeans into poverty and unemployment during his reign, Van Rompuy “hit the jackpot.”
Former European Council president Herman Van Rompuy will be paid nearly $1 million for the next three years for doing nothing, the Telegraph reported.
Van Rompuy, who stepped down as the European Council president Monday, will be paid a “transitional allowance” worth $210,290 a year until December 2017. In addition, the retiree will be entitled to a lifetime EU pension of $81,700 a year and a one-off payment of $33,000, making his total earnings more than $900,000 over the next three years, the Daily Mail said.
As a retiree, Van Rompuy will not have to do any job for his “transitional allowance”, which is also eligible for a reduced EU “community” tax rate, rather than the Belgian income tax rate, according to the Daily Mail.
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During his time in office, Van Rompuy was no stranger to controversy and public criticism. According to Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, during Van Rompuy’s term millions of Europeans were driven into poverty and unemployment by the Eurozone crisis, while Van Rompuy himself “hit the jackpot”, the Telegraph said.
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And as a gentle reminder of Van Rompuy’s utter uselessness… we leave it to Nigel Farage…
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1zeZuOI Tyler Durden