Race to repair over 10,000 faults at MEPs’ new HQ

Date: 09/09/1999

By Gareth Harding

BUILDERS are frantically trying to fix more than 10,000 faults at the European Parliament's new headquarters in Strasbourg before MEPs meet next week to vote on the new Commission.

But senior officials say it will not be possible to put right many of the 600-million-euro building's defects in time for Monday's (13 September) sitting and that some of the design faults are irreversible.

The assembly's glittering new debating chamber in the Alsatian capital was unveiled to a storm of criticism in July. "There are very fundamental design faults which even the lowliest architect should have sorted out," said Eluned Morgan, a prominent member of the budgetary affairs committee.

A detailed list of the building's drawbacks is still being drawn up by Parliament officials. However, in a letter to MEPs, Secretary-General Julian Priestley has outlined the building's most serious faults and the action being taken to put them right.

Amongst the problems catalogued are a lack of access for disabled members, slow and badly ventilated lifts, inadequate catering facilities, confusing signposting, water in the tunnel connecting the assembly's old and new buildings, sloppy plumbing in the bathrooms, a lack of space and privacy in the press room, and poor connections for mobile phone users.

Priestley insists that some of the finishing faults were inevitable given the scale of the project, adding that the problem was compounded by the arrival of more than 300 new members in July. "We were aware that a totally new Parliament taking on a totally new building had an element of risk. But the alternative was a double move - to the old offices in July and new ones in September," he said.

However, the assembly's top official also admitted that much of the bad press was entirely justified. "What disappointed me was the level of technical installation. It is clear that the companies responsible had not adequately catered for the volume of traffic and that the signposting was an unpleasant surprise," he told European Voice.

Priestley also criticised the "excessive use of black" throughout the building, the poor press facilities and the "enormous problems with catering" encountered during the first session.

In his letter to MEPs, promised by newly elected President Nicole Fontaine in July, the secretary-general promises to sort out access for handicapped members, make sure that air conditioning works in the lifts, improve catering facilities and provide additional signposting to complement the surrealist squiggles that currently pass for directions in time for next week's sitting.

However, the Parliament faces a dilemma over what to do about the building's structural defects, such as the diminutive size of members' offices. Many MEPs have complained about the cramped conditions they will have to work in for a week every month. Green Group leader Heidi Hautala described her office as a "dark cell" and compared the curved glass structure to the notorious American island prison of Alcatraz.

Priestley agrees that members' offices are "very small" and is acutely aware that turning a blind eye to the problem will provoke the ire of parliamentarians. But he also knows that rebuilding work would result in extra costs and yet further bad publicity for the project.

Fontaine and Priestley toured the assembly's second home this week to examine possible improvements to the decor and progress in solving the building's short-comings. They also met the mayor of Strasbourg and the building's architect to discuss the structural problems.

The secretary-general said the Parliament had a cast-iron commitment from the building's promoters to put right the remaining faults, adding that the institution would hold back part of its rent on the premises until this was done.