Calls to Limit Parliamentarians' Income

Following reports that as many as 100 German federal, state and municipal parliamentarians are on the payroll of German carmaker Volkswagen (VW), members of Germany's governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens have called for limits on lawmakers' income. Greens politician Volker Beck said extra income from side jobs should be deducted from parliamentary salaries if it amounts to more than half of the politician's pay. Sigmar Gabriel, a former Social Democratic premier of Lower Saxony, where VW is located, called on lawmakers to forego most of their parliamentary salary if they earn a lot of money on the side. Social Democratic Party leader Franz Müntefering meanwhile also said that parliamentarians should make extra income more transparent, but rejected an outright ban on lawmakers working in their regular jobs while in office. Leading conservative politicians recently had to resign from party posts because they had received pay from a utility company while also receiving party salaries.