Europees parlement koopt gebouwen in Straatsburg

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - With a petition to scrap the European Parliament seat in Strasbourg gathering close to one million signatures, MEPs are moving closer to a deal to buy all the EU parliament buildings in the Alsatian city.

The parliament's bureau on Wednesday (6 September) gave support to a plan to buy the three buildings for around €143 million, arguing the price is "fair" as it is worth around eight years of annual rent.

The purchase of two buildings - the Winston Churchill bloc and the Salvador de Madariaga unit - was blocked earlier this year after it emerged that the city of Strasbourg required €29 million from EU funds in rental compensation payments from the sale.

On top of this, the city has been recently accused of charging around €80 million extra since 1979 from the House in rent payments.

In reaction to the revelations, MEPs in the budget committee said there should be no purchase unless there was a proper investigation of the rental scandal followed by a report, there was no compensation to Strasbourg city from EU coffers and all buildings with the land they are standing on are included in the transaction.

While the buildings are owned by a Dutch pension fund which lets them to the city, which in turn sublets them to the parliament, the land is owned by Strasbourg and the city wanted to keep it.

But as part of the compromise to be considered by MEPs involved in the talks, the parliament will now buy the whole complex - all three remaining buildings (WIC, SDM and IPE3), while a compensation of around €30 million will be paid by the French government, according to sources.

German conservative MEP Markus Ferber from the budget and budgetary control committee told the EUobserver "We will still have to see exact calculations to make sure the price for the buildings is economically acceptable."

Insiders suggest, however, that the key objections from the deputies seem resolved and so the purchase could move quickly in the coming weeks, with the budgets committee possibly giving the green light to parliament's administrators to use the reserve in the 2006 budget and buy the buildings.

No deal good enough for Strasbourg opponents

Mr Ferber argues it will be clearly cheaper for the parliament to pay for its buildings and own them instead of renting them, but opponents of having a parliament seat in Strasbourg say it is not a logical move.

"The whole idea of having two seats of the European Parliament - in Strasbourg and in Brussels - is not only costly but it doesn't have any justification in political terms," says UK conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope.

"It will cost the European taxpayers an enormous sum of money [to buy the buildings]," he added stressing that "however the calculations [on the purchase] are done, it really seems to be quite nonsensical."

Eurosceptic MEPs are also strongly against buying the Strasbourg buildings and their candidate for the next president of parliament - to be voted on early next year - will lead his campaign with the call to move all crucial plenary sitting to Brussels and so effectively create a single working place.

"The European Parliament should not pay a single penny for these buildings, before we make a decision on one seat," said Jens Peter Bonde from the Independence/Democracy group.

Critics also point out that almost one million EU citizens have supported an online petition for one seat for the European Parliament, with the EU communications commissioner Margot Wallstrom also openly speaking out against the Strasbourg seat.

But Mr Ferber agues "there is a single seat of the European Parliament. And it is in Strasbourg, that it what the treaty says." He adds that it would be too costly to pay rent while waiting to see if the treaty is changed.

Under EU rules, the parliament has to hold 12 plenary sessions a year in Strasbourg, while the rest of the meetings are held in Brussels.

The cost of maintaining three seats of the EU legislature (with its administration based in Luxembourg) has been calculated at around €200 million a year.

In December 2003, the parliament bought a major part of its Strasbourg seat - the Louise Weiss (LOW) building where all parliamentary activity takes place and where MEPs' offices are situated - for around €450 million.

Back then, the purchase was also accompanied by an intensive debate on the seat question.

But the official seat in Strasbourg has been enshrined in the EU treaty since 1992 with any revision requiring unanimous approval of all member states, something France is unlikely to give.