BRUSSELS — Several EU lawmakers have declared they have a side income but didn’t reveal how much extra money those gigs bring in.

According to the MEPs’ code of conduct, lawmakers are supposed to declare any money they make outside of the European Parliament if it’s over €5,000 a year. MEPs earn €8,088 a month after tax and insurance contributions are deducted.

The actual provision in the code of conduct says: “If [a remunerated activity undertaken alongside the exercise of the member’s office] generates income, Members shall indicate for each separate item the respective amount of that income and, where relevant, its periodicity.”

However, Transparency International shared with POLITICO’s EU Influence newsletter the names of 14 MEPs who had not listed that income. The information was verified by POLITICO and all 14 MEPs were contacted.

Raphaël Kergueno, senior policy officer at Transparency International, said: “Without proper monitoring of MEPs’ declarations, and sanctioning for breaches to the code of conduct, EU citizens are left relying on MEPs’ promises alone. The results of this speak for themselves.”

Those on the list include Alvise Pérez, a Spanish far-right lawmaker who moonlights as a corruption-hating influencer. He wrote in a declaration to the Parliament last year that the “exact generated income” from his influencing would be updated at the end of each year. However, the amount that he earned since being voted in as an MEP in 2024 has not been revealed — although his records show he was getting €20,000 per month from the side job in the months running up to the election. His team said: “All income received has been duly declared in accordance with the applicable rules.”

Then there’s Mario Mantovani, an Italian MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists, who has had three consulting roles in addition to his parliamentary post; Transparency International says he promised to declare the sums by the end of 2024. He has yet to do so (and didn’t respond to a request for comment) but we know from his records that he was regularly pulling in six-figure sums annually from these roles before this term began.

Meanwhile, Michał Wawrykiewicz, a long-time EU lawyer from the European People’s Party who has had clients in the retail, property, telecoms and rail sectors, said he didn’t think he had to declare the earnings with the European Parliament because he had already done so with the Polish parliament. He told POLITICO he had “misunderstood” the rules and added: “I inquired about this with my assistant several times” and “despite her very broad experience in the EP,” she was unaware that he also was supposed to submit declarations to the European Parliament. He said it was “in no way intentional.”

Far-right Czech lawmaker Jana Nagyová said she had been “wrongly informed” by her office about income declarations. She added that she did have some side income from regional politics: around €150 per month for being elected to a local parliament and approximately €300 a month from a regional parliament, although the latter stopped last January. 

A few of the lawmakers sent info after POLITICO got in touch. Sibylle Berg, a German non-aligned lawmaker, was an author and playwright before joining the European Parliament. Her office sent a document that said she makes €120,000 per year outside of her work as a parliamentarian. “We value transparency and believe that publication obligations support public scrutiny,” said her head of office, Dustin Hoffmann.

Greens lawmaker Lena Schilling, who made some extra money via the book she published in 2024 and who flagged her potential earnings to the Parliament ahead of its release, said she hadn’t declared it because it fell below the €5,000 threshold. Her office added that they would update the register nevertheless and also sent over a breakdown of her earnings. Esteban González Pons, a Spanish EPP parliamentarian, said he had published two books in 2025 but wouldn’t be able to confirm the royalties earned until May. 

Those who didn’t respond to a request for comment include Domenico Lucano, a lawmaker for The Left group, who flagged that he had done some work for a film production company; and Vladimir Prebilič, a Greens lawmaker who lectures in Ljubljana. Also not responding were Katri Kulmuni, a Renew lawmaker who has various municipal roles in Finland (as well as being a paid board member of a Christian foundation) and Pekka Toveri, a Finnish EPP lawmaker who lists himself as the CEO of his own company.

François Kalfon, a French S&D parliamentarian, said he had “not received any remuneration or income from any professional activity,” and that “all necessary steps” had been taken to ensure “full compliance” with the Parliament’s rules on transparency and financial declarations. In Kalfon’s declaration it says “dividends for 2024 not yet defined”.

Riho Terras, an Estonian EPP lawmaker who had flagged some potential dividends, told POLITICO: “Everything has been declared.”

Socialists and Democrats MEP Elisabeth Grossmann was on the Transparency International list but told POLITICO that she hadn’t worked as a lecturer in Vienna since being elected and hadn’t updated her parliamentary records.

Max Griera contributed to this article.