Europees Parlement koopt gedeelte van de eigen huisvesting in Straatsburg (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Parliament has bought one of the three buildings of its seat in Strasbourg for around 450 million euro.

The Louise Weiss (LOW) building in Strasbourg is where all parliamentary activity takes place and where MEPs' offices are situated.

The contract was signed yesterday evening between the Parliament's President Pat Cox, the French European Affairs Minister Noëlle Lenoir, and Strasbourg Mayor Fabienne Keller.

The European Parliament will also purchase the building in Luxembourg tomorrow, Wednesday, where its administrative offices are situated.

"The idea is to save taxpayers' money, to rationalize budgetary expenditure on buildings for as long as the European parliament is obliged by the Treaty provisions and by protocol to meet in three different work places", the European Parliament spokesperson, David Harley, said.

The European Parliament has to hold 12 plenary sessions a year in Strasbourg, while the rest of the meetings are held in Brussels.

Various MEPs want to scrap the European Parliament's seat in Strasbourg as they argue that the monthly journey costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of euro each year.

This cost is set to increase after the EU enlargement next year.

A decision to change the seats of the EU institutions has to be agreed by all EU Member States.