Ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's severance payment to be paid by US taxpayers: report

The EU rule book decrees that Mandelson, who left his job as Trade Commissioner last week before completing his five-year term, will be eligible for about £78,000 a year for each of the next three years in 'transitional payments'. A total of £234,000 will be paid in instalments of £6,500 a month until the end of 2011. It will be subject to preferential tax rates devised for EU officials.

In addition, when Mandelson reaches 65, he can look forward to a guaranteed EU pension - based on his four-year stint in Brussels - starting at £31,000 a year and rising in line with the cost of living. Pensions experts said last night that to buy an income of that size would require a fund of around £750,000.
...
Commission officials said the fact that Mandelson had quit before the end of his five-year term in charge of EU trade policy made 'no difference' to his entitlements. Any commissioner who has served more than three and fewer than five years can take 50 per cent of their £182,490 annual income for three years after leaving, so long as this sum and any income from new employment combined do not take their income over the level that they were earning as a commissioner. Mandelson, who rented a flat in Brussels but still owns a £2m property in Regent's Park in London, can also apply to be reimbursed fully for all his removal costs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/12/mandelson-labour