Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU parliament ceiling collapse saved €1.7 million

Travel and accommodation savings of nearly €2 million were made in 2008 when MEPs were forced to relocate to Brussels due to a collapsed ceiling in the European Parliament's Strasbourg plenary chamber, according to documents published this month.

Responding to recent questions from MEPs, parliament's top official, Klaus Welle, estimated that the additional costs associated with holding two September sessions in Brussels as opposed to Strasbourg amounted to €818,740, largely due to train and hotel cancellation fees.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Parliament's ceiling, shortly after the August 2008 collapse (Photo: strastv)

When subtracted from the €2,549,826 in additional savings however, the net difference was a gain of €1,731,086, said the secretary general.

The unexpected saving in EU taxpayers' money stems from the partial collapse of the Strasbourg 'hemicycle' ceiling on the 8 August 2008 while MEPs were away on their summer holidays.

Reports at the time suggested a first part of the ceiling came crashing down around 6pm in Strasbourg, followed by another section four hours later. The event, remarked some European newspaper readers the following morning, was a "superb metaphor" for the European Union.

Since then, parliament's plenary ceiling has been installed with a complex system of sensors so that any movement triggers an alarm before pieces of plaster start to fall.

The 2008 event restarted the long-running debate over the EU's "traveling circus" under which MEPs hold committee meetings in Brussels but plenary sessions in the northern French city of Strasbourg.

Parliament's secretariat estimates that the additional cost involved in dividing the legislature's political business between Brussels and Strasbourg amounts to about €10 million for each of the 12 main plenary sessions per year, the September 2008 savings being curtailed due to its last-minute nature.

The decision to divide the majority of parliament's work between the two locations was formalised in a 1992 agreement, but originally dates back to an offer by the Council of Europe (1949) to allow the European Coal and Steel Community's 'Common Assembly' (1952) to use its plenary chamber for meetings.

The Common Assembly gradually developed into the European Parliament, with members opting to conduct most of their business in Brussels, close to the other EU institutions. French politicians however have been reluctant let go of the additional revenue generated for Strasbourg hotels and restaurants when the 700-plus MEPs roll into town for three days a month.

In his written answers to MEPs this month, Mr Welle also puts an estimate on the travel and accommodation costs of carting parliamentary officials between Brussels and Luxembourg, the latter being home to a major part of parliament's administrative staff.

"7,052 missions were undertaken between Luxembourg and Brussels," reported the document, amounting to a total cost of €1,910,443.

The formal decision to locate over 2,000 members of parliament's staff in Luxembourg dates back to a 1996 agreement between the Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and parliament's president at the time, Klaus Hansch.

An updated deal was agreed between parliament's president Nicole Fontaine and Mr Juncker in the year 2000, under which its was "stated that the majority of new posts following enlargements would be assigned to Luxembourg".

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us