Juncker’s junkets

IS it any wonder Brussels bureaucrats spent two years fighting tooth and nail to avoid publishing their expenses bills? As the documents show, the 28 EU commissioners spent an eye-watering £450,000 in just two months at the start of last year.

A total of £70,000 on a visit to Azerbaijan… £ 568- a- night hotel rooms… 261 official trips…

The alarming details also include £23,815 for preening Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and his entourage to travel from Brussels to Rome on a private jet for one night (and it’s unclear if that includes the bar bill).

EU officials defended the claims, saying there were no suitable commercial planes available, when the two cities are connected by at least six scheduled flights a day.

And, confirming everything we know about the EU’s carefree approach to spending taxpayers’ money, Brussels officials describe these private planes as ‘air taxis’.

But most revealing of all is how little information they’ve actually published. To their shame, officials argued against more transparency on the grounds that it would be an ‘excessive administrative burden’.

The truth is further revelations would simply underline the EU’s appalling and well- deserved reputation for waste. And then they have the gall to demand a £90billion divorce bill!