The European Parliament has an annual budget of €1.7 billion. In total, over 7,500 people work there, on a full- or part-time basis, including of course the EU's 751 MEPs. All together, those MEPs cost EU taxpayers an annual total of €224 million in salaries and costs. In this debate we take a closer look at the costs, in particular the allowances, of MEPs. The EU anti-fraud agency OLAF has accused a number MEPs, including French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, of misusing parliamentary funds and ordered them to repay hundreds of thousands of euros. For her part, Le Pen is crying foul, calling it a politically motivated attack.

A programme presented by Eve Irvine

Produced by Isabelle Romero and Anais Guérard