Parliament bids to end row by buying buildings

By Simon Taylor

Date: 01/06/06

The European Parliament is considering trying to end a row over overpaying rent to the city of Strasbourg by buying two buildings that it rents.

Under an option discussed yesterday (31 May) by the Parliament's bureau, the senior MEPs responsible for administrative affairs, Parliament would buy the two buildings from the owner SCI Erasme for no more than EUR 107 million. This would end the current arrangement where Strasbourg is pocketing a large share of the EUR 10.5 million that the Parliament pays each year in rent.

The city would receive no compensation from the Parliament from the sale. It was the inclusion of such compensation in earlier negotiations over a possible sale that first brought the overpayments to light.

A Parliament source said that bureau members were "likely to favour" the purchase option rather than sticking with the status quo or negotiating with the city.

After the purchase had gone through, investigations could continue, the source said, into the legality of the arrangements under which the city was taking a share of the rent and was claiming EUR 29 million in compensation if the buildings were sold.

Members of the budgetary control committee's special working group looking into the affair could be assisted by the European Court of Auditors and the EU's anti-fraud unit, officials suggested.

But the MEPs on the investigating working group are unhappy that the bureau is continuing negotiations while their inquiry is still going on.

German centre-right MEP Markus Ferber, a member of the working group, accused the bureau of not respecting the will of MEPs.

In April, MEPs voted overwhelmingly to set up a special working group to look into how the city of Strasbourg took a slice of the rent that the Parliament has been paying for use of the two buildings since 1979.

MEPs on the working group sent a letter to Parliament President Josep Borrell asking him to suspend negotiations. The issue was discussed at the bureau meeting yesterday but no decision was taken.

The number of signatories to an internet petition calling for an end to the Parliament meeting in Strasbourg has risen to more than 375,000. But the Austrian presidency said that there would not be a debate on the issue at the EU summit on 15-16 June even though Borrell is planning to request one.

French President Jacques Chirac has also written to the mayor of Strasbourg, assuring her of his "total and steadfast commitment to defend Strasbourg as capital of Europe, in line with the treaty rules".

Article reports that the European Parliament was considering trying to end a row over overpaying rent to the city of Strasbourg by buying two buildings that it was renting. At the same time an Internet petition was calling for an end to the Parliament meeting in Strasbourg.

• Primary Source