‘Last chance’ to end ‘inefficient’ Strasbourg sessions

Date: 12/06/03

By Simon Coss

EU GOVERNMENTS are dangerously near to missing their "last chance" to end one of the Union's most infamous examples of waste and inefficiency, an MEP has warned.

As the Convention on Europe's future draws to a close, Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten says governments must now bite the bullet and scrap European Parliament sessions in Strasbourg.

"The Parliament has a real legitimacy problem and one of the main reasons for that is the Strasbourg situation," van Hulten told European Voice.

The Parliament holds its monthly plenary sessions in the French city, but spends the rest of its time 500 kilometres away in Brussels.

"A simple way to remedy this would be to ensure that we have a single seat in Brussels. But I really think that the Convention, or as a final resort the intergovernmental conference that follows it, will be our last chance to do something about this," he added.

Proposals put forward by the Convention must be approved unanimously by member states.

But it already seems highly unlikely that van Hulten's wish will be granted. The Convention's draft constitution ignores the question of the Parliament's seat.

Cynics have said the fact that Convention chairman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is a former French president may have something to do with this.

Others argue that it was not the forum's job to tackle such technical issues.

Strasbourg was made the official seat of the Parliament in a protocol to the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, following a deal by EU leaders at the Edinburgh summit five years earlier.

The French have made it clear that they will block any attempts to end Strasbourg's lucrative EU rendezvous.

Both French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin have publicly thrown their weight behind the city's European aspirations.

A special steering committee called 'Strasbourg, Ville Européene' was set up to help promote the Alsacian capital.

The committee includes prominent politicians and has been charged with upgrading the city's international transport links and developing its potential as a training ground for EU civil servants. France's civil service school, the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, is already based in Strasbourg.

A recent study found that housing the assembly in three cities - Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg - costs the EU taxpayer €169 million per year.

That figure is due to rise to €203m when the EU expands next year. It costs a further €2m per year for European commissioners to attend the monthly sessions.

l Socialist Convention members have called instead to locate the European Council meetings in Strasbourg.

UK Socialist deputy Richard Corbett says holding summits in Strasbourg would confer as much prestige and other benefits on the town as the current Parliamentary plenaries.

"The building can be adapted for European Council purposes and it already contains the necessary press and security facilities," he said.

"Holding summits away from Brussels is also appropriate as they should remain distant from the day-to-day procedures of the EU."

• Additional reporting - Martin Banks

MEP Michiel van Hulten has called on EU governments to scrap the 'costly and inefficient' Strasbourg sessions of the European Parliament.