New cloud over Strasbourg site

Date: 09/05/1996

By Rory Watson

A FRESH shadow has been cast over the controversial 443-million-ecu complex being built in Strasbourg to house the European Parliament with the launch of an investigation into suspicions that the new premises are being built with the help of illegal workers.

French investigators are looking to question the heads of two construction companies after a surprise police raid on the largest building project in France uncovered more than a dozen employees whose papers were reportedly not in order.

The cloud now hanging over the Parliament's new headquarters follows an earlier controversy over the complex sparked by a report from the EU's Court of Auditors last year which strongly criticised the way in which the Parliament concluded the contract to build the new hemi-cycle with the Société d'Aménagement de la Région de Strasbourg. The financial watchdog decided the signing of the contract was “illegal in terms of Community budgetary law”.

News of the investigation is a major embarrassment for the French authorities, which have waged a long and determined campaign to keep the Parliament in Strasbourg despite the criticisms of those who point out the budgetary and practical illogicalities of travelling to the Alsatian capital once a month for plenary sessions.

A spokeswoman for Strasbourg Mayor and Socialist MEP Catherine Trautmann confirmed this week that various irregularities had been discovered on the building site. But she insisted these were very few in number given that 800 people were working on the project.

Before construction work began, Trautmann signed a special convention with the building companies involved and various national and local French authorities to ensure maximum respect for legal standards and to prevent the use of illegal labour.

“It is not normal to do this, but we wanted to show our determination to avoid bad practices. We have a system of badges and checks on people entering the construction site,” explained a French official.

The possibility that illegal labour may have been used to construct their new premises could also be an embarrassment for MEPs, who have traditionally taken a tough stance in defending workers' rights and insisting on proper social protection.

Strasbourg's public prosecutor has already launched a preliminary inquiry into suspicions that illegal labour has been used to avoid payment of taxes and other payroll charges.

In March, four Italians and a Frenchman, who had not been declared by the firms, were briefly detained by police. They face investigation on suspicion of fraud.

The latest allegations have been taken up by UK Socialist MEP John Tomlinson, who has long shown a keen interest in the institution's building ventures.

He contacted Parliament President Klaus Hänsch this week to establish what follow-up action was being taken.

“I have written to the president asking two questions. What has been done to establish the veracity of the allegations? And if they are justified in whole or in part, what action is being taken to prevent their repetition?” he explained.

Tomlinson first drew Euro MPs' attention to the possibility of illegal labour being used to construct the new premises last month after press reports that 13 irregularly-employed workers had been identified on the site.

MEPs heard that eight of these were undeclared and five were citizens of one member state, employed by a firm in another member state and drawing unemployment benefit in France.

Hänsch raised the allegations with Trautmann last month and was assured by the Strasbourg mayor that the French authorities were investigating them.

“Frankly, I think it is to her credit that she is trying to stop this sort of thing,” said one senior parliamentary official yesterday.