Rethink Strasbourg extension plans, Cox told

Date: 24/04/03

By Martin Banks

Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, has been told to rethink controversial plans to extend its Strasbourg site.

The Parliament's bureau - consisting of Cox and 14 vice-presidents drawn from the main political groups - had proposed constructing two new buildings to accommodate the arrival of new MEPs when the EU enlarges to take in ten new members next May. The number of deputies will rise from the current 626 to 732 after next summer's elections.

However, MEPs have voted overwhelmingly against the €18 million extension plans.

Dutch Socialist Michiel van Hulten said: "The plans are excessive and seem to be more about the prestige of the meetings than the practicalities. There is no need for new meetings rooms."

The Parliament's 17-storey, 1,110-room riverside site in Strasbourg, which is used by MEPs less than 50 days a year, has been beset with problems since opening in 1999.

These have ranged from jamming lifts to faulty air conditioning. This, and the discovery of legionella, has led some MEPs to nickname it 'Faulty Towers' after the popular television series featuring John Cleese.

Earlier this month, MEPs voted narrowly in favour of cutting the number of sessions held in the Alsace city from 12 to ten from next year.

The French government, which recently launched a major marketing drive to persuade MEPs to drop calls to make Brussels the permanent home of the Parliament, is considering legal moves to block the decision.

The split-site arrangement, agreed by EU leaders at the Edinburgh summit in 1992, has been criticized because of the huge expense involved in shuttling MEPs, commissioners and thousands of staff between the Belgian capital and Strasbourg.

The Parliament spends €169 million a year to keep on the move - a figure that will rise to €203 million when the EU expands next year. It costs a further €2 million a year for commissioners to attend the monthly sessions.

Welsh Socialist MEP Eluned Morgan estimates that the 'travelling circus' wastes more than 25,855 working days each year - the equivalent of 60 full-time posts, at a cost of almost €4 million to European taxpayers.

"What most people also fail to realise is that this ridiculous movement between workplaces not only costs a fantastic sum of money but ultimately discriminates against part-time workers, the majority of whom tend to be women.

"The three seats of the European Parliament [it also meets in Luxembourg] have led to an annual waste of money which can only be described as scandalous and undermines much of the good work we do. It is a wholly unnecessary use of taxpayers' money simply in order to respect historical treaties."

Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, has been told to rethink controversial plans to extend its Strasbourg site.