EASTERN EUROPE: High Salaries Are Boons For EU Politicos Despite Austerity Measures.

NYTIMES / S.CASTLE

   Here's a hard lesson in the economics of international politics.
   Bureaucrats doing it pay themselves...well.
   While governments are employing austerity measures and even slashing civil service pay, salaries in Brussels have not gone down.
   Latvia's PM Valdis Dombrovskis, 39, (pictured) earns less than many beat cops.
   But Latvia’s European Commission member Andris Piebalgs earns $345,000 a year, almost eight times as much as Dombrovskis...with housing benefits.
   “It is symbolic of their remoteness,” said one researcher. “When they are monitoring other countries, telling them what to do about their budget deficits, that they should rein in spending, cut their public sectors and reduce salaries, my reaction is, what about your salaries?”
   Currently more than 4,700 Eastern Europeans work for the European Commission, the union’s executive branch.