Thursday

28th Mar 2024

MEPs to shift back to Strasbourg next month

  • The hemicycle - a room where a potential 785 MEPs sit to agree legislation - was declared safe (Photo: European Parliament)

The European Parliament's next plenary session will be held in Strasbourg, after the ceiling that collapsed in August has been repaired, costing almost twice as much as expected.

The decision was taken on Monday (22 September) by the parliament's president Hans-Gert Poettering and its 14 vice-presidents after the hemicycle - a room where a potential 785 MEPs sit to agree legislation - was declared safe in a technical report.

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

According to Gerard Onesta, the vice-president in charge of the parliament's buildings, the total costs to repair some 10 tonnes of collapsed material have reached €6.5million, AFP writes.

However, most of the costs would be covered by insurance, he added.

The summer incident has once again prompted renewed calls to scrap the Strasbourg seat and the so-called "travelling circus," which sees some five thousand people as well as 20 tonnes of documents make the monthly trek.

Estimates suggest the set-up costs around €200 million a year overall, while the parliament has directly saved between €3 and 4 million by temporarily holding two plenary sessions in Brussels.

The EU treaty clearly states that EU lawmakers are obliged to meet 12 times a year in the Alsatian capital however, with supporters of the parliament's French seat saying it is a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation after World War II.

Any decision to change to parliament seat would have to be agreed by all 27 member states, including France.

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. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

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?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us