Column B: using the EC entitlements document: The basic salary of a member of the Commission is currently (since 1 July 2008) €19,909.89 per month (the five Vice-Presidents earn €22,122.10, the President earns €24,422.80). , calculate the annual by multiplying by 12.

Columns C and D: again from the EC document: Commissioners are entitled to a residence allowance of 15% of their salary. Commissioners are entitled to a monthly entertainment allowance of €607 (Vice-Presidents receive €911.38, the President receives €1418.07), calculate the annual by multiplying by 12.

Column E: multiply columns B, C, and D by the number of years of presence, 5 for most commissioners. Don't take into account that you are using 2008-2009 figures for previous years. Tot up all the salaries and allowances and reach a grand total of €40.7m for the Barroso Commission.

Column H: using EC entitlements document: Upon leaving office, Commissioners are entitled to a resettlement allowance of one month's salary, display that amount (Column B/12)

Column I: EC entitlements: A transitional allowance is paid for three years, beginning on the day after leaving office. This allowance is between 40% and 65% of the final basic salary, depending on the length of service, calculate the value of that allowance on the basis of 50% for a 5-year stint

Column J: from EC entitlements: the pension is calculated as 4.275 % of the basic salary for every full year in office, calculate the annual future pension rights

Column K: take 16.5 years as the average further life expectation at 65, and multipl the annual pension by that number. Make a grand total of H, I, K to find €36m .

Add the two totals to say that the Barroso Commission cost €76m over 5 years. (Do not mention that salaries and pensions are subject to Community income tax at rates from 8% to 45%. Do not mention that transitional allowances are capped, as are pensions, as per EC entitlements document).

Now write a press release. Say:

Open Europe - independent think tank calling for radical reform of the EU

European Commissioners leaving office later this year will receive more than £1 million each in pension payments and so-called 'transitional' and 'resettlement' allowances.

playing on the future tense, "will", making it sound as if future pension payments (calculated on an average of 16.5 years) are paid out immediately on leaving office.

(In fact, if the future pension rights and future transitional allowances are stripped out, the salaries and allowances cost of the Barroso Commission over the past 5 years runs to €41.3m, or a little over €8m a year).

Pepper your press release with "payouts" "pay-offs", "perks" (4 times), "ample pension" (that one's €860 a month), point out how much women are getting in particular, bring in a comparison with how much the POTUS is officially paid, and add the following:

Open Europe - independent think tank calling for radical reform of the EU

Open Europe Analyst Sarah Gaskell [note by afew: possibly the person who spent a month slaving over the spreadsheet] said:

"Even Sir Fred Goodwin would be impressed at the size of the pensions that Commissioners are walking away with."[note by afew: Sir Fred Goodwin's famous pension will amount to over €750K a year, while the commissioners are mostly on €50K...]

"Taxpayers around Europe, whose pensions have been swallowed up in the recession, will rightly question why they are footing such an enormous bill for a handful of remote officials who they never voted for in the first place."

"It is a topsy-turvy world when an unelected EU official is earning the same wage as the democratically elected President of the United States."

You then get UK tabloid coverage like this:

EU chiefs' £1million pay-off | News | News Of The World

EU fat-cat beauraucrats will pick up £1 million golden parachutes to cushion the blow when they quit Brussels this year.

With 20 of Europe's molly-coddled 27 Commissioners set to stand down in November, the total payoff pot will hit an astonishing £23.8 million.

And an uncritical piece in the wonderful EUObserver...

(Open Europe claims to be independent and to be funded by individual donations. It is backed by a long list of leading figures in the British business world. )