By Daisy Ayliffe - 26th April 2006
MEPs have accused the city of Strasbourg of fraud as the row over rent payments for the EU parliament escalates.
The European parliament has begun an emergency investigation into allegations that up €29 was siphoned off from rent paid on buildings.
“There are solid reasons to believe that we are dealing with a serious case of fraud with a cost of at least €27m to the EU budget,” Valdis Dombrovskis MEP said on Thursday.
“The allegations are reinforced by the fact that the city council of Strasbourg refuses to submit to the European parliament the documentation on its operations.”
The Strasbourg parliament buildings are owned by a Dutch pension fund SCI Erasme which lets them to the city, which in turn sublets them to MEPs.
On Thursday Gérard Onesta, the European parliament vice-president responsible for the institution's buildings policy, explained that Strasbourg has been keeping a substantial share of the rent before remitting the balance to the owners.
All other European cities that play host to EU institutions have acquiesced to an unwritten agreement that does not charge for land use.
But Onesta suggests Strasbourg has not honoured this agreement and has pocketed around €2.7m a year.
“The city of Strasbourg said they would give us the land. This was not a written agreement but the council did not tell us that they would be charging €29m,” he said.
“We assumed it was as it is elsewhere and had no reason to believe Strasbourg would be in this to make a profit – it just never occurred to us. The city of Strasbourg is not short of funds. What could have lead us to imagine this?”
Onesta added that parliament president Josep Borrell had requested invoices and explanations from the Strasbourg authorities, but that “none have been received”.
“They will give us no more invoices so because I cannot explain the situation, I call it an overcharge.”
On Wednesday MEPs were supposed delayed a sign off the parliament's budget for 2004 after debate was hijacked by the rent allegations.
Liberal MEP Alexander Alvaro welcomed postponement of the budgetary vote until a conclusive inquiry has been made.
“These revelations are irritating and damaging to our previous relationship of trust with the city of Strasbourg and have led to more questions being asked about the cost of parliament maintaining multiple seats,” he said.
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