EU parliament 'one-seat' initiative still short of target

A campaign aimed at scrapping Strasbourg as an official seat of parliament was on Tuesday still 157 MEPs short of the target needed for it have a chance of becoming EU policy.

MEPs have until this Thursday to sign a cross-party written declaration which calls for a single seat for the assembly to be in Brussels.

But as of today, only 236 MEPs had done so, out of a total of 785.  A total of 393 signatures are needed in order for the declaration to be adopted by parliament as an official position. 

Open Europe, a eurosceptic think tank, has now made a last-minute appeal to all MEPs to sign the declaration before the deadline.

The UK-based organisation has obtained a list of all MEPs that had, as of this week, signed the declaration.  The list also indicates which MEPs had not signed the declaration.

It pointed out that the monthly trips between Strasbourg and Brussels - the so-called "travelling circus" - costs EU taxpayers an estimated €203m per year and generates around 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Finnish EPP-ED member Piia-Noora Kauppi said she understood that perhaps some MEPs may incorrectly believe that the attempt to bring an end to the two-seat arrangement was a lost cause.

“I know that some MEPs think that it’s a hopeless issue, but it’s a wrong assumption to say that it’s hopeless,” she said.

Critics say moving 785 MEPs and their staff between Brussels and Strasbourg each month is expensive and bad for the environment.

However, supporters of the Strasbourg base say the city is symbolically important, sitting on the border of former European foes, France and Germany.

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