Parliament in Strasbourg costs 1m euros more than Brussels

Date: 21/02/02

By David Cronin

Each monthly session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg costs €1 million more than if it was held in Brussels, new data shows.

The Parliament's five-day meetings in Strasbourg last year cost €3.9 million, compared to the €2.9 taxpayers would have had to pay if meetings were in the Belgian capital.

The figures were disclosed by Secretary-General Julian Priestley in a document sent to members of the budget control committee this week.

Dutch Socialist Michiel van Hulten said the statistics 'once again underline that it would be more cost-effective' for the assembly to concentrate activities in Brussels, where most committee meetings are held.

EU leaders decided at the 1992 Edinburgh summit that MEPs should meet 12 times per year in Strasbourg. The decision has been criticised by deputies in all member states except France.

The obligation to go to the Alsatian capital has since been copper-fastened by a protocol in the Amsterdam Treaty.

Van Hulten is urging the new Convention on Europe's future to recommend that the institution should have a single seat in the Belgian capital.

'The Parliament would be more effective politically if it was only in Brussels because the Commission and Council [of Ministers] are here,' he added. 'Shipping us off to Strasbourg once a month gives the Commission and Council free rein.'

Finnish Liberal Kyösti Tapio Virrankoski echoed his view, saying: 'The decision on the meeting place of the Parliament is against the will of the Parliament.'

In a report he has drafted for the budget control committee, he notes that the estimates do not include extra costs 'due to buildings, hotel expenses, etc.' If these were taken into account, he believes that the cost of MEPs relocating to Strasbourg each month would climb even further. Priestley's figures for holding five-day sessions in Brussels were reached by adjusting the €1.2 million price of the two-day 'mini-session' held in the Belgian capital each month. Overall, he reckons the bill for the assembly's 12 weeks in Strasbourg last year came to €47 million, whereas it would have been €35.6 million if MEPs had stayed in Brussels.

French Socialist Danielle Darras told European Voice that her country's deputies would never countenance leaving Strasbourg. While she understands the financial case for basing the assembly in Brussels, she described French seat, located near the German border, as 'an important symbol'. 'It would not serve much purpose to open the debate on this at the Convention,' she added. 'Enlargement is a more important question.'

Each monthly session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg costs €1 million more than if it was held in Brussels, new data shows.

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