Location of European Union institutions
Encyclopedia
The governing institutions of the European Union
(EU) are not concentrated in a single capital city; they are instead spread across three cities (Brussels
, Luxembourg
, and Strasbourg
) with other EU agencies and bodies based further away. However, Brussels has become the primary seat, with each major institution and now the European Council
being based wholly or in part there.
The seats have been a matter of political dispute since the states first failed to reach an agreement at the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community
in 1952. However, a final agreement between member states was reached in 1992, and later attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam.
Despite this, the seat of the European Parliament
remains controversial. The work of Parliament is divided between all three major cities, which is seen as a problem due to the large number of MEPs
, staff, and documents which need to be moved. As the locations of the major seats have been enshrined in the treaties of the European Union
, Parliament has no right to decide its own seat, unlike other national parliaments.
Locating new bodies is also not without political disputes. The European Central Bank
's (ECB) seat had to symbolise its independence from political control, and was located in a city which did not already host a national government or European institution. New agencies are also being based in eastern Europe since 2004 to balance the distribution of agencies across the EU.
outline the locations of the following institutions: The European Parliament
has its seat in Strasbourg, hosting twelve monthly plenary sessions (including budget session). Brussels hosts additional sessions and committees (including being used in September 2008 for normal sittings when the Strasbourg chamber was damaged). Luxembourg hosts the Secretariat of the European Parliament
. The Council of the European Union
has its seat in Brussels, except during April, June, and October, when meetings are held in Luxembourg.
The European Commission
also has its seat in Brussels, although some departments are hosted by Luxembourg. The European Court of Justice
, the General Court, and the Court of Auditors are based in Luxembourg along with the European Investment Bank
. The Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions
are entirely based in Brussels while the European Central Bank
is based in Frankfurt
and Europol
is the only agency to have its seat fixed by the treaties, in the Hague
.
Separately, the Treaty of Nice
establishes Brussels as the venue for all formal summits of the European Council
after 2004. However some extraordinary sessions are sometimes held outside the city. The European Council's seat is however fixed by a declaration rather than a protocol, meaning it is less binding than the other seats.
The 2011 Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM) states that the seat of the ESM must be in Luxembourg. The ESM should be ratified and active in mid-2013 and it is allowed to establish a liaison office in Brussels.
(as NATO and WEU
are also in the city). Luxembourg hosts the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union
and the European Investment Bank
. Strasbourg hosts the office of the European Ombudsman
. The other agencies
are spread across Europe and since the 2004 enlargement
, there has been a drive to locate more agencies in the new member-states to make a more equal distribution.
However, some problems have been encountered with basing agencies in the eastern states. For example, Frontex
, the new border agency, has had problems recruiting skilled experts because many do not want to live in the agency's host city, Warsaw
, due to its relatively low wages and standard of living. In addition, plans to place the headquarters of Galileo
in Prague
met with opposition over security concerns that the city would not be safe enough for such a sensitive agency.
with related sales and translation services; the EEC Statistical Office
and data-processing department; the EEC and ECSC departments for hygiene and industrial safety; DG for Dissemination of Information
; DG for Health
; DG for Euratom safeguards and any appropriate administrative and technical infrastructure for these.
As departments have changed over the years, some are no longer present as they have been abolished or merged, with most departments present being mainly based in Brussels while retaining a minor presence in Luxembourg. There are however some departments which are still entirely based in the city per the 1965 agreement. The Commission's Luxembourg offices are seen as an undesirable posting, with civil servants being sent there when they fall out of favour with the administration.
there as well) and Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg are also referred to as the joint capitals of Europe, for example in relation to the "Eurocap-rail" project: a railway that would link "the three European capitals".
(ECSC), the states could not agree which city should host the institutions of the new community. Luxembourg was chosen as a provisional choice for all but the Assembly (Parliament), which was to be based in Strasbourg. Two further communities were created in 1957 and again a provisional agreement laid out that the Assembly would meet in Strasbourg, the Courts would meet in Luxembourg, and the Commissions and Councils would be split between Luxembourg and Brussels. These institutions later started to be concentrated in the latter city.
As various agreements were reached, activities in Luxembourg gradually shifted to Brussels and the Parliament, although bound to remain in Strasbourg, also started to work in Brussels while the courts remained in Luxembourg. The final agreement in 1992 set up the present arrangement, including the division of the Parliament's work between the three cities. In 2002, the European Council
, having previously rotated between different cities, decided to base itself in Brussels.
The ECSC was founded by the Treaty of Paris (1951)
; however, there was no decision on where to base the institutions of the new community. The treaties allowed for the seat(s) to be decided by common accord of governments, and at a conference of the ECSC members on 23 July 1952 no permanent seat was decided.
The seat was contested, with Liège
, Luxembourg
, Strasbourg
and Turin
all considered. While Saarbrücken
had a status as a "European city" (Europeanised
presence and control), the ongoing dispute over Saarland
made it a problematic choice. Brussels
would have been accepted at the time, but divisions within the then-unstable Belgian government ruled that option out.
To break the deadlock, Joseph Bech, then Prime Minister of Luxembourg, proposed that Luxembourg be made the provisional seat of the institutions (including the Council and High Authority
) until a permanent agreement was reached.
In 1958, after the Treaty of Rome came into effect the new members of the community had to again decide on a seat. In early 1958 they could not come to a conclusion, and various cities began to lobby for the position. It was decided that in principle all of the institutions should be located in one city as soon as feasible. Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg
, Turin
, Milan
, Stresa
, Paris
, Nice
, and the French Department of Oise
were all considered by the "European Committee of Town-Planning Experts" in a report to the Council of Ministers. However, even after the presentation of the report the countries could not agree, and in June 1959 a three year moratorium on the decision was set. The delay helped Brussels establish itself as the seat, since it was already functioning as much of the administration was already working there in offices space loaned from the Belgian government. During this time Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the European institutions themselves favoured Brussels; Luxembourg wanted to maintain the seat of the ECSC (or be generously compensated); France supported Strasbourg, and Italy continued to promote Milan.
However, it was decided that the Common Assembly, which became the Parliament, should instead be based in Strasbourg—the Council of Europe
(CoE) was already based there, in the House of Europe. The chamber of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly could also serve the Common Assembly, and they did so until 1999, when a new complex of buildings
was built across the river from the Palace.
(EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community
(EAEC or Euratom) created new duplicate institutions to the ECSC (except for the Parliamentary Assembly and Court of Justice, which were shared). On 7 January 1958, it was decided that Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg would again be provisional venues until a final decision. Strasbourg would retain the Assembly, Luxembourg the Court and both Brussels and Luxembourg would host meetings of the Councils and Commissions (or High Authority). The discretion of the exact meeting place of the new Councils was given to the President of the Council
. In practice, this was to be in the Castle of the Valley of the Duchess
until the autumn of 1958, at which point it would move to 2 Rue Ravensteinstraat in Brussels. Meanwhile, the ECSC Council was still based in Luxembourg, holding its meetings in the Cercle Municipal on Place d’Armes. Its secretariat moved within the city on numerous occasions, but between 1955 and 1967, it was housed in the Verlorenkost district.
On 21 June 1958, the Parliamentary Assembly recommended to the Council that the Assembly should have its seat in the same place where the other organisations are based, although it accepted that plenary sessions could be held elsewhere. The Assembly also nominated three cities to be the seat of the institutions (Brussels, Strasbourg and Milan
), however no permanent agreement was reached.
The provisional arrangement was reiterated on 8 April 1965 with the "Decision
on the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities". This was following the Merger Treaty
, which combined the executives of the three Communities into a single institutional structure. However, with the merged executives, the Commission and most departments were grouped together in Brussels, rather than Luxembourg. The Commission was first based on Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée/Blijde Inkomstlaan, before moving to the Breydel building
on the Schuman roundabout
, and then its present location in the Berlaymont building
. The ECSC secretariat moved from Luxembourg to the merged body Council secretariat in the Ravenstein building of Brussels. In 1971 the Council and its secretariat moved into the Charlemagne building
, next to the Commission's Berlaymont. These premises rapidly proved insufficient and the administrative branch of the secretariat moved to a building at 76 Rue Joseph II/Jozef II-straat. During the 1980s the language divisions moved out into the Nerviens, Frère Orban and Guimard buildings.
To compensate Luxembourg for the loss of the Commission and Council, a number of provisions were laid out. Firstly, the Court of Justice would remain in the city. Some departments of the Commission and the Assembly, including the Secretariat of the Assembly
would remain along with European Investment Bank
(further, particularly financial, institutions would also be prioritised for Luxembourg). The Council would also have to hold sessions in Luxembourg during April, June and October. It also confirmed Strasbourg as the seat of the Parliament. With the prioritisation of Luxembourg for future institutions, in 1977 the Court of Auditors
became provisionally located in Luxembourg.
Despite the 1965 agreement, the Parliament's seat remained a source of contention. Wishing to be closer to the activities in Brussels and Luxembourg, a few plenary sessions were held by the Parliament between 1967 and 1981 in Luxembourg instead of Strasbourg—against the wishes of France—and in 1981 it returned to holding sessions entirely in Strasbourg. In the previous year it unsuccessfully issued an ultimatum to the national governments, attempting to force them to reach an agreement. Thus, the Parliament moved some of its decision-making bodies to Brussels, along with its committee and political group meetings, and in 1985 it also built a plenary chamber in Brussels
for some part-sessions. All the Parliament's attempts in this field were challenged by member states.
In response, the European Council
adopted on 12 December 1992 in Edinburgh
a final agreement on the seats. The Decision on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities outlined that the Parliament would be based in Strasbourg, where it would be obliged to hold "twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session". However, additional sessions could be held in Brussels, which is where committees also should have met while the secretariat had to remain in Luxembourg.
It also provided for the Court of First Instance (now known as the General Court) to be based in Luxembourg with the Court of Justice, which remained there. However, this agreement dropped the provision from the 1965 decision, which gave priority to Luxembourg for any new judicial and financial bodies. In response, Luxembourg attached a unilateral declaration stating it did not renounce this article. However they did renounce any claim to the seat of the judicial Boards of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market via the Treaty of Nice
.
The Parliament challenged this decision splitting their working arrangements, declaring that the division of its activities between three states was against the treaties and the natural prerogatives of a Parliament elected by direct universal suffrage
, claiming the right to decide its own workings to its own efficiency. In response, leaders annexed the decision to the Treaty of Amsterdam, including it in the treaties
.
A Council decision on 29 October 1993 on the location of European agencies established that the European Monetary Institute
, later the European Central Bank
, would be based in Frankfurt
. Frankfurt had to compete with numerous other cities, including London
, Paris
, Amsterdam
, Luxembourg, Lyon
, Barcelona
and even Basel
(in Switzerland
, which was outside the European Union
).
France even linked the issue of the seat to the ongoing dispute regarding the seat of the European Parliament. Frankfurt was criticised as symbolising German dominance, although the Deutsche Bundesbank
had effectively been running the Communities currencies for the previous years, while Luxembourg has a banking tradition that wasn't so careful. London was discredited because the UK remained outside the eurozone
. It was also seen as important to locate the bank in a city not already hosting a national government or EU institution, in order to emphasise its independence. Others, such as the former head of the Bundesbank Karl Otto Pöhl, favoured a small country with a stable currency. The advantages of hosting the Bank were also in dispute by some economists. While there was seen by some as little to gain in terms of attracting other banks and financial institutions, others saw it as affecting which cities would be financial hubs in the years to come.
in Brussels, now also the home of the European Council, during the refurbishment of the Berlaymont to remove asbestos
. However, its staff was still increasing, so it continued to rent Frère Orban building to house the Finnish and Swedish language divisions; later it started to rent further buildings in Brussels. The Berlaymont refurbishment project overran, but in 2004, the Commission moved back in and the Barroso Commission
concentrated its activities there, with the President and meeting room on the thirteenth floor. As of 2007, the Commission occupies 865,000m² in 61 buildings across the Brussels EU district
. Due to the 2004 and 2007 member enlargements, staff has risen, demanding an extra 35,000m² of office space. This may lead to further construction and high rise buildings. Furthermore, a building next to Justus Lipsius, Résidence Palace
, is currently being renovated as the future seat of the Council and European Council from 2013.
In 2002, it was also decided that the European Council would be based in Brussels. The Council was established in the 1960s as an informal gathering of national leaders and did not have a fixed location, being held, instead, in the state which held the EU Presidency each time. However, with impending enlargement, the Treaty of Nice established that one Council meeting per presidency would be held in Brussels. After enlargement to 18 members (reached in May 2004), all business would be held there with the exception of some extraordinary meetings that are still held elsewhere. In Brussels, the European Council shares the same building as the Council of the European Union.
In 2007, the new situation became a source of contention, with the European Council wanting to sign the Treaty of Lisbon
in Lisbon
. The Belgian government, keen not to set a precedent, insisted that the actual meeting should take place in Brussels as usual. This meant that after the signing, photo shoot and formal dinner, the entire summit transferred from Lisbon to Brussels to continue with normal business. The idea, mirrored with the "travelling circus" (see below) of the European Parliament, garnered protests from environmental groups describing the hypocrisy of demanding lower carbon emissions while flying across Europe for the same summit for political reasons.
The European Parliament seat remained an issue throughout this period, despite the Council writing it into the treaties. During the 1990s, the issue was debated every year and in 1999, 250 MEPs signed a letter condemning the arrangement and the Strasbourg facilities. The following year Parliament voted 401 to 77 for a resolution demanding the right to decide its own working locations. Attempts to include this in the following treaties in 2000 and 2007 both failed. However, in September 2008 Parliament held its first full plenary session in Brussels after the ceiling of the Strasbourg chamber collapsed during recess forcing the temporary move.
Critics have described the three-city arrangement as a "travelling circus" with a cost an extra 200 million euro over a single location. Defenders of the Strasbourg seat, like the MEP for Germany Bernd Posselt
, however claim that the figure is rather a mere 40 million euro, i.e. an extra cost of 8 cents per EU citizen. When Parliament was forced to meet in Brussels in September 2008, due to a fault in the Strasbourg building, it was estimated that Parliament saved between €3 and 4 million, though the exact figure is hard to calculate. As the Commission also meets in Strasbourg when Parliament is out of Brussels, the cost of Commissioners moving amounted to €9.5 million between 2002 and 2007. The Green party
has also noted the environmental cost in a study led by Jean Lambert
, MEP and Caroline Lucas
, MEP; in addition to the extra financial cost, there are over 20,268 tonnes of additional carbon dioxide, undermining any environmental stance of the institution and the Union. Jens-Peter Bonde
, former leader of the ID group
, stated in 2007 that unless the issue of the seat was tackled, it would be impossible to increase the election's turnout, as the movement of the seat was the issue raised by voters most often. He, along with Green co-leader Monica Frassoni
, called for a debate on the issue, which was being blocked by President
Hans-Gert Pöttering
.
The trips between the cities are seen by the public as "a money-wasting junket hugely enjoyed by journalists, MEPs and researchers" when in fact it is "a money-wasting junket loathed by journalists, MEPs and researchers" according to Gary Titley
, MEP (PES
), who announced he would not be standing for re-election in 2009
because of the two-seat issue. Titley stated that he could "no longer tolerate the shifting of the Parliament lock, stock and barrel to Strasbourg one week a month...It's a miserable journey and it's always a problem" noting the problems in lost luggage. As well as undermining the EU's climate change objectives, he criticises the Strasbourg sessions as the deals have already been made leading to them becoming formal voting sessions padded out with "debates saying we are against sin." Titley also states that, because the journeys take so much time, the committees in Brussels who do the bulk of the work do not have sufficient time to work. Titley is not the only one to leave over the issue; Eluned Morgan MEP is standing down in 2009 for similar reasons, notably due to the toll the moving has on time with her family, and former MEP Simon Murphy
quit as leader of the Socialists
in 2002 due to the inconvenience of the arrangement.
Brussels is favoured by some as it is already the seat of the two other political institutions, the Commission and Council of Ministers (including the European Council). In addition, the Parliament has already geared three quarters of its activity in the city. Third party organisations are also based in the city, including NGOs, trade unions, employers' organisations and the highest concentration of journalists in the world—also due to the presence of NATO in the city in addition to the large presence of Union institutions. While Strasbourg campaigners see being based in Strasbourg as an aid to independence of MEPs, Brussels' campaigners state it is merely reducing the institution's influence by "exiling
" them away from the other major institutions.
Brussels also has better transport links than Strasbourg, with lower pay for civil servants which reduce costs. Some commentators further underline that night-life in Strasbourg is comparatively lacklustre and that MEPs who'd wish to relax after a long and hard working day aren't offered many opportunities to do so. Pro-Brussels campaigners were bolstered when the position of Strasbourg suffered a minor blow in 2006, as allegations surfaced over charges by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the Parliament was renting. The controversy died down when the European Parliament decided to officially buy the buildings on 24 October 2006.
In May 2006, an online petition, oneseat.eu, was started by Cecilia Malmström
, MEP calling for a single seat of Parliament, to be based in Brussels. By September of that year it reached its aim of one million signatures, and according to a provision in the European Constitution a petition signed by a million citizens should be considered by the Commission. The overall validity of the petition was called into doubt, however, due to it being on the Internet and using e-mail addresses instead of street addresses. In addition, the majority of signatories were concentrated in northern Europe
, notably the Netherlands
(40%). Regardless, the petition is seen by pro-Brussels groups as an important symbol. One signatory to the petition was Commission Vice President Margot Wallström
; she supported the campaign, stating that "something that was once a very positive symbol of the EU reuniting France and Germany has now become a negative symbol—of wasting money, bureaucracy and the insanity of the Brussels institutions".
In early 2011, the Parliament voted to scrap one of the Strasbourg sessions by holding two within a single week. and the Dutch government joined the calls to scrap the seat all together. The mayor of Strasbourg
officially reacted by stating "we will counter-attack by upturning the adversary's strength to our own profit, as a judo
ka would do" and announced that his town would press forward for a complete relocation of all parliamentary related services of the EU to Strasbourg.
of the EU away from Brussels Emma Nicholson, the only British MEP to support Strasbourg, argues that being next door to the Council of Europe
allows MEPs to keep in touch with delegates from the rest of Europe, such as Russia, and that being in Brussels isolates the EU from such influences. Pro-Strasbourg campaigners also argue that Strasbourg offers more independence for Parliament, away from the other institutions and lobby groups in Brussels.
If the Parliament was wholly in Strasbourg, then the news media
would also no longer be able to use shortcuts such as "Brussels decided..." rather than discuss the detail of the decision markers. Media would also have to be based in Strasbourg and hence might provide better coverage of the Council of Europe. Strasbourg is also preferred for historical reasons, having changed hands between France and Germany five times between 1870 and 1945. It is also argued that Brussels is no longer a good symbol for European unity given the recent political disputes in Belgium.
This position was supported by President Josep Borrell Fontelles, although he earned come criticism when he stated that the importance of Strasbourg in the context of the Second World War could not be perceived in the same way as France and Germany by "Nordic countries" (a reference to the Swedish MEP who started the one-seat petition). French MEP Brigitte Foure
started a pro-Strasbourg petition, one-city.eu, in 2008 (countering the Brussels petition) which has gained just over 4200 signatures as of April 2009.
Following the announcement (on 21 October 2010) of the setting up of an "informal seat study group" by British MEP Edward McMillan-Scott
(Liberal Democrats), which was seen as an attack on Strasbourg by the municipality, Roland Ries
and Catherine Trautmann
released (on 29 October 2010) an energetic joint declaration of defense. On November 9 2010, the municipal council of Strasbourg green-lighted a project (envisioned since April of the same year) of the creation of a "Place for Europe" (lieu d′Europe) – a walk-in center for people curious about the European institutions in Strasbourg
– in the former Villa Kaysersguet, an architecturally precious but currently (2010) derelict 18th century mansion neighbouring with the European Court of Human Rights
and the Agora building of the Council of Europe.
A poll of MEPs, in June 2007, by Alexander Nuno Alvaro
MEP (ALDE
), a pro-Brussels campaigner, found that 89% wanted a single seat and that 81% preferred Brussels. However, despite polling all MEPs, only 39% responded to the questions. Alvaro stated that, after consulting polling firms, this was a high turnout for an opinion poll even if not totally representative. A Parliamentary magazine was pressured to drop the publication of this poll initially, reflecting the sensitive nature of the issue. In the same month, another survey by Simon Hix of the University of Manchester
and Roger Scully from the University of Aberystwyth
found a 68% support for a single seat. In their survey 272 of the 732 people questioned responded. Following each sitting in Strasbourg, hundreds of MEPs sign a petition calling for a reduction of time in Strasbourg, though Pascal Mangin, Strasboug's deputy mayor, does not believe the opinion of the MEPs to be important. Nevertheless, in January 2009 a Parliamentary written declaration calling for one Brussels seat failed to get sufficient support. It gained 286 signatures out of 393 needed for it to be considered. Brussels campaigners cited that it was bad timing, with French and German leaders of Parliament and the main two groups ordering their members not to support the motion. The campaigners vowed to continue the fight while the Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries
this time welcomed the "wisdom of the parliamentarians" and said it signalled their desire for Strasbourg to host the institution alone.
A survey of citizens' attitudes conducted in May 2006 included two questions on the issue of the Parliament's seat. On average, 32% people from all member states supported the two-location policy while 68 were against. Support for one location was higher among men than women, and among people over 35 than under. Support for both locations was one percentage point lower in the 10 countries which joined in 2004 than in the 15 earlier members; No group have more than 40 percent support to two locations. Of those against two seats, 76% supported Brussels and 24% supported Strasbourg. In this case support for Brussels was 6 percentage points higher in the 10 new members with women and the under 35 year-olds. The group with the highest support for Strasbourg was the over 35 year olds with 28 percent support. The citizens of Strasbourg are of course strong supporter's of the Parliament being based in Strasbourg with each session being worth four million euro to the city's economy. In September 2008, Strasbourg's government passed a motion demanding all of Parliament's activities be relocated to the city.
These polls have not affected the position of France, which can veto any such move, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy
stating that its seat is "non-negotiable".
Regardless, the government has stated that the issue might be addressed if France were to be offered something of equal value. The Council itself has indicated privately that it would discuss the Strasbourg seat only if Parliament gives them a signal to start a debate, as they would not do on their own initiative. However, few wish to discuss the issue while the current constitutional issues
are still present. Although political parties have no formal position, the Greens
, Liberals
and Socialists
are all outspoken on having Brussels as a permanent seat.
co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit
, MEP has proposed turning the Strasbourg seat into a "European university". Elaborating on this in 2008, he sees such a university teaching all subjects and funded directly by the EU with between 15,000 to 20,000 students. The same idea has been put forward in January 2006 by Polish minister and former dissident Bronisław Geremek, in an article originally published by Le Monde
. In an open letter to Cohn-Bendit, Roland Ries
, the mayor of Strasbourg, reminded him that the international attractiveness of the University of Strasbourg
was related to the presence of European Institutions in Strasbourg
and that it would not be enhanced, but undermined, by the replacement of one of the largest of these institutions by just another, and much smaller, university.
The year before, the proposed European Institute of Technology
had been touted as the university to take over the building. It has been proposed that the Institute could also be merged with European Research Council
and based there. The vice-chancellors of Strasbourg's three universities have suggested merging to create a 'European University'. It has also been suggested that Strasbourg could host the European Council
meetings, minor institutions such as the Committee of the Regions
, or the institutions of the proposed Mediterranean Union. The Green Party has proposed having Strasbourg as the home of a new "European Senate".
Institutions of the European Union
The European Union is governed by seven institutions. Article 13 of Treaty on European Union lists them in the following order: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European...
(EU) are not concentrated in a single capital city; they are instead spread across three cities (Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
) with other EU agencies and bodies based further away. However, Brussels has become the primary seat, with each major institution and now the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
being based wholly or in part there.
The seats have been a matter of political dispute since the states first failed to reach an agreement at the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
in 1952. However, a final agreement between member states was reached in 1992, and later attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam.
Despite this, the seat of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
remains controversial. The work of Parliament is divided between all three major cities, which is seen as a problem due to the large number of MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
, staff, and documents which need to be moved. As the locations of the major seats have been enshrined in the treaties of the European Union
Treaties of the European Union
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives...
, Parliament has no right to decide its own seat, unlike other national parliaments.
Locating new bodies is also not without political disputes. The European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
's (ECB) seat had to symbolise its independence from political control, and was located in a city which did not already host a national government or European institution. New agencies are also being based in eastern Europe since 2004 to balance the distribution of agencies across the EU.
Locations
The treaties of the European UnionTreaties of the European Union
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives...
outline the locations of the following institutions: The European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
has its seat in Strasbourg, hosting twelve monthly plenary sessions (including budget session). Brussels hosts additional sessions and committees (including being used in September 2008 for normal sittings when the Strasbourg chamber was damaged). Luxembourg hosts the Secretariat of the European Parliament
Secretariat of the European Parliament
The secretariat of the European Parliament is the administrative body of the European Parliament headed by a Secretary-General. It is based in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg and around the Brussels-Luxembourg Station in Brussels and employs 4000 officials.-Secretary-General:The Secretary...
. The Council of the European Union
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
has its seat in Brussels, except during April, June, and October, when meetings are held in Luxembourg.
The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
also has its seat in Brussels, although some departments are hosted by Luxembourg. The European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
, the General Court, and the Court of Auditors are based in Luxembourg along with the European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
. The Economic and Social Committee
Economic and Social Committee
The European Economic and Social Committee is a body of the European Union established in 1958. It is a consultative assembly composed of employers , employees and representatives of various other interests...
and the Committee of the Regions
Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is European Union's assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework....
are entirely based in Brussels while the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
is based in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Europol
Europol
Europol is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. It became fully operational on 1 July 1999....
is the only agency to have its seat fixed by the treaties, in the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
Separately, the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
establishes Brussels as the venue for all formal summits of the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
after 2004. However some extraordinary sessions are sometimes held outside the city. The European Council's seat is however fixed by a declaration rather than a protocol, meaning it is less binding than the other seats.
The 2011 Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism
European Stability Mechanism
The European Stability Mechanism is a permanent rescue funding programme to succeed the temporary European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism...
(ESM) states that the seat of the ESM must be in Luxembourg. The ESM should be ratified and active in mid-2013 and it is allowed to establish a liaison office in Brussels.
Non-fixed seats
There are numerous other bodies and agencies that have not had their seats fixed by treaties. Brussels hosts the European Defence AgencyEuropean Defence Agency
The European Defence Agency is an agency of the European Union based in Brussels. It is a Common Foreign and Security Policy body set up on 12 July 2004, reporting to the Council of the European Union. All EU member states, except Denmark which has an opt-out of the CFSP, take part in the agency...
(as NATO and WEU
Western European Union
The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
are also in the city). Luxembourg hosts the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union
Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union
The Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1994, the Translation Centre is located in Luxembourg City....
and the European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
. Strasbourg hosts the office of the European Ombudsman
European Ombudsman
The European Ombudsman is an ombudsman for the European Union, based in the Salvador de Madariaga Building in Strasbourg.-History:...
. The other agencies
Agencies of the European Union
An agency of the European Union is a decentralised body of the European Union , which are distinct from the institutions. Agencies are established to accomplish specific tasks. Each agency has its own legal personality...
are spread across Europe and since the 2004 enlargement
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
, there has been a drive to locate more agencies in the new member-states to make a more equal distribution.
However, some problems have been encountered with basing agencies in the eastern states. For example, Frontex
Frontex
Frontex is the European Union agency for external border security...
, the new border agency, has had problems recruiting skilled experts because many do not want to live in the agency's host city, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, due to its relatively low wages and standard of living. In addition, plans to place the headquarters of Galileo
European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority
The European GNSS Agency is an agency of the European Union based in Brussels, Belgium. The body was set up in 2004....
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
met with opposition over security concerns that the city would not be safe enough for such a sensitive agency.
Commission departments
Although the Commission is mainly based in Brussels, some of its departments are required to be based in Luxembourg since the 1965 agreement which listed the following for Luxembourg; ECSC financial departments, the DG for Credit and Investments, the department which collects the ECSC levy and attached accounts departments; the Official Publications OfficePublications Office (European Union)
The Publications Office of the European Union is an interinstitutional office whose task is to publish the publications of the institutions of the European Communities and the European Union ....
with related sales and translation services; the EEC Statistical Office
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
and data-processing department; the EEC and ECSC departments for hygiene and industrial safety; DG for Dissemination of Information
Directorate-General Communication (European Commission)
The Directorate-General Communication is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.The mission of the DG Communication is:* To inform the media and citizens of the activities of the European Commission and to communicate the objectives and goals of its policies and actions.* To inform the...
; DG for Health
Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for Health and Consumers , formerly Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection and often abbreviated as "SANCO" or "DG-SANCO" for the French words Santé & Consommateurs , is a Directorate-General of the European Commission...
; DG for Euratom safeguards and any appropriate administrative and technical infrastructure for these.
As departments have changed over the years, some are no longer present as they have been abolished or merged, with most departments present being mainly based in Brussels while retaining a minor presence in Luxembourg. There are however some departments which are still entirely based in the city per the 1965 agreement. The Commission's Luxembourg offices are seen as an undesirable posting, with civil servants being sent there when they fall out of favour with the administration.
"Capital"
The treaties or declarations of the EU have not declared any city as the "capital" of the EU in any form. However, informally the term has found usage despite connotations out of step with the normal perceptions surrounding a inter/supranational entity. Brussels is frequently the subject of the label, particularly in publications by local authorities, the Commission and press. Indeed, Brussels interprets the 1992 agreement on seats (details below) as declaring Brussels as the capital. Likewise, authorities in Strasbourg and organisations based there refer to Strasbourg as the "capital" of Europe (often wider Europe due to the presence of the Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
there as well) and Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg are also referred to as the joint capitals of Europe, for example in relation to the "Eurocap-rail" project: a railway that would link "the three European capitals".
History
At the founding of the European Coal and Steel CommunityEuropean Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
(ECSC), the states could not agree which city should host the institutions of the new community. Luxembourg was chosen as a provisional choice for all but the Assembly (Parliament), which was to be based in Strasbourg. Two further communities were created in 1957 and again a provisional agreement laid out that the Assembly would meet in Strasbourg, the Courts would meet in Luxembourg, and the Commissions and Councils would be split between Luxembourg and Brussels. These institutions later started to be concentrated in the latter city.
As various agreements were reached, activities in Luxembourg gradually shifted to Brussels and the Parliament, although bound to remain in Strasbourg, also started to work in Brussels while the courts remained in Luxembourg. The final agreement in 1992 set up the present arrangement, including the division of the Parliament's work between the three cities. In 2002, the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
, having previously rotated between different cities, decided to base itself in Brussels.
Beginning
Treaty of Paris (1951)
The Treaty of Paris was signed on 18 April 1951 between France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries , establishing the European Coal and Steel Community , which subsequently became part of the European Union...
; however, there was no decision on where to base the institutions of the new community. The treaties allowed for the seat(s) to be decided by common accord of governments, and at a conference of the ECSC members on 23 July 1952 no permanent seat was decided.
The seat was contested, with Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
all considered. While Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
had a status as a "European city" (Europeanised
Europeanisation
Europeanisation refers to a number of related phenomena and patterns of change:*The process in which a notionally non-European subject adopts a number of European features...
presence and control), the ongoing dispute over Saarland
Saar (protectorate)
The Saar Protectorate was a German borderland territory twice temporarily made a protectorate state. Since rejoining Germany the second time in 1957, it is the smallest Federal German Area State , the Saarland, not counting the city-states Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen...
made it a problematic choice. Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
would have been accepted at the time, but divisions within the then-unstable Belgian government ruled that option out.
To break the deadlock, Joseph Bech, then Prime Minister of Luxembourg, proposed that Luxembourg be made the provisional seat of the institutions (including the Council and High Authority
High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community
The High Authority was the executive branch of the former European Coal and Steel Community . It was created in 1951 and disbanded in 1967 when it was merged into the European Commission.-History:...
) until a permanent agreement was reached.
In 1958, after the Treaty of Rome came into effect the new members of the community had to again decide on a seat. In early 1958 they could not come to a conclusion, and various cities began to lobby for the position. It was decided that in principle all of the institutions should be located in one city as soon as feasible. Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Stresa
Stresa
Stresa is a town and comune of about 5,000 inhabitants on the shores of the Lago Maggiore in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy; it is situated on the road and rail routes to the Simplon pass, about 90 km north-west of Milan. Since the early 20th century, the main source of income has been the...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, and the French Department of Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
were all considered by the "European Committee of Town-Planning Experts" in a report to the Council of Ministers. However, even after the presentation of the report the countries could not agree, and in June 1959 a three year moratorium on the decision was set. The delay helped Brussels establish itself as the seat, since it was already functioning as much of the administration was already working there in offices space loaned from the Belgian government. During this time Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the European institutions themselves favoured Brussels; Luxembourg wanted to maintain the seat of the ECSC (or be generously compensated); France supported Strasbourg, and Italy continued to promote Milan.
However, it was decided that the Common Assembly, which became the Parliament, should instead be based in Strasbourg—the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
(CoE) was already based there, in the House of Europe. The chamber of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly could also serve the Common Assembly, and they did so until 1999, when a new complex of buildings
Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg
The city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament. The institution is legally bound to meet there twelve sessions a year lasting about four days each. Other work takes place in Brussels and Luxembourg City...
was built across the river from the Palace.
Provisional agreement
The creation in 1957 of the European Economic CommunityEuropean Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
(EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community
European Atomic Energy Community
The European Atomic Energy Community is an international organisation which is legally distinct from the European Union , but has the same membership, and is governed by the EU's institutions....
(EAEC or Euratom) created new duplicate institutions to the ECSC (except for the Parliamentary Assembly and Court of Justice, which were shared). On 7 January 1958, it was decided that Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg would again be provisional venues until a final decision. Strasbourg would retain the Assembly, Luxembourg the Court and both Brussels and Luxembourg would host meetings of the Councils and Commissions (or High Authority). The discretion of the exact meeting place of the new Councils was given to the President of the Council
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
. In practice, this was to be in the Castle of the Valley of the Duchess
Castle of the Valley of the Duchess
The Castle of Val-Duchesse is a former priory situated in the municipality of Auderghem in the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. The castle is owned by the Belgian Royal Trust....
until the autumn of 1958, at which point it would move to 2 Rue Ravensteinstraat in Brussels. Meanwhile, the ECSC Council was still based in Luxembourg, holding its meetings in the Cercle Municipal on Place d’Armes. Its secretariat moved within the city on numerous occasions, but between 1955 and 1967, it was housed in the Verlorenkost district.
On 21 June 1958, the Parliamentary Assembly recommended to the Council that the Assembly should have its seat in the same place where the other organisations are based, although it accepted that plenary sessions could be held elsewhere. The Assembly also nominated three cities to be the seat of the institutions (Brussels, Strasbourg and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
), however no permanent agreement was reached.
The provisional arrangement was reiterated on 8 April 1965 with the "Decision
European Union decision
In European Union law, a decision is a legal instrument which is binding upon those individuals to which it is addressed. They are one of three kinds of legal instruments which may be effected under EU law which can have legally binding effects on individuals. Decisions may be addressed to member...
on the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities". This was following the Merger Treaty
Merger Treaty
The Merger Treaty was a European treaty which combined the executive bodies of the European Coal and Steel Community , European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community into a single institutional structure.The treaty was signed in Brussels on 8 April 1965 and came into force...
, which combined the executives of the three Communities into a single institutional structure. However, with the merged executives, the Commission and most departments were grouped together in Brussels, rather than Luxembourg. The Commission was first based on Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée/Blijde Inkomstlaan, before moving to the Breydel building
Breydel building
The Breydel building is an office block in the European Quarter of Brussels that served as a temporary headquarters for the European Commission between 1991 and 2004....
on the Schuman roundabout
Schuman roundabout
Schuman Roundabout , or Schuman Square, is a roundabout at the end of Rue de la Loi in Brussels that serves as a focus for major institutions of the European Union ....
, and then its present location in the Berlaymont building
Berlaymont building
The Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the executive of the European Union...
. The ECSC secretariat moved from Luxembourg to the merged body Council secretariat in the Ravenstein building of Brussels. In 1971 the Council and its secretariat moved into the Charlemagne building
Charlemagne building
The Charlemagne building is a high-rise in the European Quarter of Brussels , which houses the Directorate-General for Trade and the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission....
, next to the Commission's Berlaymont. These premises rapidly proved insufficient and the administrative branch of the secretariat moved to a building at 76 Rue Joseph II/Jozef II-straat. During the 1980s the language divisions moved out into the Nerviens, Frère Orban and Guimard buildings.
To compensate Luxembourg for the loss of the Commission and Council, a number of provisions were laid out. Firstly, the Court of Justice would remain in the city. Some departments of the Commission and the Assembly, including the Secretariat of the Assembly
Secretariat of the European Parliament
The secretariat of the European Parliament is the administrative body of the European Parliament headed by a Secretary-General. It is based in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg and around the Brussels-Luxembourg Station in Brussels and employs 4000 officials.-Secretary-General:The Secretary...
would remain along with European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
(further, particularly financial, institutions would also be prioritised for Luxembourg). The Council would also have to hold sessions in Luxembourg during April, June and October. It also confirmed Strasbourg as the seat of the Parliament. With the prioritisation of Luxembourg for future institutions, in 1977 the Court of Auditors
European Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union . It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg to audit the accounts of EU institutions...
became provisionally located in Luxembourg.
Edinburgh agreement
Espace Léopold
The Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union ....
for some part-sessions. All the Parliament's attempts in this field were challenged by member states.
In response, the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
adopted on 12 December 1992 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
a final agreement on the seats. The Decision on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities outlined that the Parliament would be based in Strasbourg, where it would be obliged to hold "twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session". However, additional sessions could be held in Brussels, which is where committees also should have met while the secretariat had to remain in Luxembourg.
It also provided for the Court of First Instance (now known as the General Court) to be based in Luxembourg with the Court of Justice, which remained there. However, this agreement dropped the provision from the 1965 decision, which gave priority to Luxembourg for any new judicial and financial bodies. In response, Luxembourg attached a unilateral declaration stating it did not renounce this article. However they did renounce any claim to the seat of the judicial Boards of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market via the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
.
The Parliament challenged this decision splitting their working arrangements, declaring that the division of its activities between three states was against the treaties and the natural prerogatives of a Parliament elected by direct universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
, claiming the right to decide its own workings to its own efficiency. In response, leaders annexed the decision to the Treaty of Amsterdam, including it in the treaties
Treaties of the European Union
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives...
.
Central bank
European Monetary Institute
The European Monetary Institute was the forerunner of the European Central Bank , operating between 1994 and 1997.-History:The EMI was created 1 January 1994 to oversee the second stage in the creation of monetary union. The EMI itself took over from the earlier European Monetary Cooperation Fund...
, later the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
, would be based in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. Frankfurt had to compete with numerous other cities, including London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Luxembourg, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and even Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
(in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, which was outside the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
).
France even linked the issue of the seat to the ongoing dispute regarding the seat of the European Parliament. Frankfurt was criticised as symbolising German dominance, although the Deutsche Bundesbank
Deutsche Bundesbank
The Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks . Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB. Both the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank are...
had effectively been running the Communities currencies for the previous years, while Luxembourg has a banking tradition that wasn't so careful. London was discredited because the UK remained outside the eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
. It was also seen as important to locate the bank in a city not already hosting a national government or EU institution, in order to emphasise its independence. Others, such as the former head of the Bundesbank Karl Otto Pöhl, favoured a small country with a stable currency. The advantages of hosting the Bank were also in dispute by some economists. While there was seen by some as little to gain in terms of attracting other banks and financial institutions, others saw it as affecting which cities would be financial hubs in the years to come.
Recent history
During 1995, the Council of the European Union moved into the Justus Lipsius buildingJustus Lipsius building
The Justus Lipsius building is a building in Brussels that has been the headquarters of the Council of the European Union since 1995. Unlike the European Parliament, visiting is restricted...
in Brussels, now also the home of the European Council, during the refurbishment of the Berlaymont to remove asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
. However, its staff was still increasing, so it continued to rent Frère Orban building to house the Finnish and Swedish language divisions; later it started to rent further buildings in Brussels. The Berlaymont refurbishment project overran, but in 2004, the Commission moved back in and the Barroso Commission
Barroso Commission
The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 2014. Its president is José Manuel Barroso, who presides over 26 other commissioners...
concentrated its activities there, with the President and meeting room on the thirteenth floor. As of 2007, the Commission occupies 865,000m² in 61 buildings across the Brussels EU district
Brussels and the European Union
Brussels is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter...
. Due to the 2004 and 2007 member enlargements, staff has risen, demanding an extra 35,000m² of office space. This may lead to further construction and high rise buildings. Furthermore, a building next to Justus Lipsius, Résidence Palace
Résidence Palace
The Résidence Palace is a complex of buildings between the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and the Chaussée d'Etterbeek/Etterbeeksesteenweg in the European Quarter of Brussels...
, is currently being renovated as the future seat of the Council and European Council from 2013.
In 2002, it was also decided that the European Council would be based in Brussels. The Council was established in the 1960s as an informal gathering of national leaders and did not have a fixed location, being held, instead, in the state which held the EU Presidency each time. However, with impending enlargement, the Treaty of Nice established that one Council meeting per presidency would be held in Brussels. After enlargement to 18 members (reached in May 2004), all business would be held there with the exception of some extraordinary meetings that are still held elsewhere. In Brussels, the European Council shares the same building as the Council of the European Union.
In 2007, the new situation became a source of contention, with the European Council wanting to sign the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. The Belgian government, keen not to set a precedent, insisted that the actual meeting should take place in Brussels as usual. This meant that after the signing, photo shoot and formal dinner, the entire summit transferred from Lisbon to Brussels to continue with normal business. The idea, mirrored with the "travelling circus" (see below) of the European Parliament, garnered protests from environmental groups describing the hypocrisy of demanding lower carbon emissions while flying across Europe for the same summit for political reasons.
The European Parliament seat remained an issue throughout this period, despite the Council writing it into the treaties. During the 1990s, the issue was debated every year and in 1999, 250 MEPs signed a letter condemning the arrangement and the Strasbourg facilities. The following year Parliament voted 401 to 77 for a resolution demanding the right to decide its own working locations. Attempts to include this in the following treaties in 2000 and 2007 both failed. However, in September 2008 Parliament held its first full plenary session in Brussels after the ceiling of the Strasbourg chamber collapsed during recess forcing the temporary move.
European Parliament
The Parliament is bound to spend "twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session" in Strasbourg, while additional sessions and committees are in Brussels. The secretariat is in Luxembourg. While the split arrangements for other bodies have relatively little impact, the large number of members of the Parliament and its concentration of work load means that these issues are far more contentious than those surrounding the other institutions. A democratic question has also been raised in the European Parliament being one of the few parliaments in the world which cannot decide its own meeting place, and also being the only parliament to have more than one seat.Bernd Posselt
Bernd Posselt is a German politician and a son of expellees.Posselt was born in Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg. He has been a Member of the European Parliament since 1994...
, however claim that the figure is rather a mere 40 million euro, i.e. an extra cost of 8 cents per EU citizen. When Parliament was forced to meet in Brussels in September 2008, due to a fault in the Strasbourg building, it was estimated that Parliament saved between €3 and 4 million, though the exact figure is hard to calculate. As the Commission also meets in Strasbourg when Parliament is out of Brussels, the cost of Commissioners moving amounted to €9.5 million between 2002 and 2007. The Green party
European Green Party
The European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
has also noted the environmental cost in a study led by Jean Lambert
Jean Lambert
Jean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
, MEP and Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, MEP; in addition to the extra financial cost, there are over 20,268 tonnes of additional carbon dioxide, undermining any environmental stance of the institution and the Union. Jens-Peter Bonde
Jens-Peter Bonde
Jens-Peter Rossen Bonde is a former Member of the European Parliament with the June Movement. He resigned as an MEP in May 2008. Bonde was elected to the European Parliament in the first election in 1979 with the People's Movement against the EU. He has been re-elected 6 times consecutively...
, former leader of the ID group
Independence and Democracy
The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was a group of eurosceptic and eurorealist political parties in the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It collapsed following the 2009 European elections after losing many of its MEPs....
, stated in 2007 that unless the issue of the seat was tackled, it would be impossible to increase the election's turnout, as the movement of the seat was the issue raised by voters most often. He, along with Green co-leader Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician and was a Member of the European Parliament for the North West of Italy until 2009. She is a member of the Italian Green Party, part of the European Greens. Frassoni was co-chair, together with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, of the European Greens–European Free...
, called for a debate on the issue, which was being blocked by President
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German conservative politician , and was the President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009...
.
The trips between the cities are seen by the public as "a money-wasting junket hugely enjoyed by journalists, MEPs and researchers" when in fact it is "a money-wasting junket loathed by journalists, MEPs and researchers" according to Gary Titley
Gary Titley
Gary Titley is a British politician and Labour Party Member of the European Parliament for the North West of England....
, MEP (PES
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
), who announced he would not be standing for re-election in 2009
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
because of the two-seat issue. Titley stated that he could "no longer tolerate the shifting of the Parliament lock, stock and barrel to Strasbourg one week a month...It's a miserable journey and it's always a problem" noting the problems in lost luggage. As well as undermining the EU's climate change objectives, he criticises the Strasbourg sessions as the deals have already been made leading to them becoming formal voting sessions padded out with "debates saying we are against sin." Titley also states that, because the journeys take so much time, the committees in Brussels who do the bulk of the work do not have sufficient time to work. Titley is not the only one to leave over the issue; Eluned Morgan MEP is standing down in 2009 for similar reasons, notably due to the toll the moving has on time with her family, and former MEP Simon Murphy
Simon Murphy
Simon Francis Murphy was a Labour Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2004.On leaving the European Parliament he was Chief Executive and Company Secretary of Birmingham Forward from 2004 to 2006. He then became Director of the Birmingham, Coventry and Black Country City Region from...
quit as leader of the Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
in 2002 due to the inconvenience of the arrangement.
Brussels as a single workplace
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
" them away from the other major institutions.
Brussels also has better transport links than Strasbourg, with lower pay for civil servants which reduce costs. Some commentators further underline that night-life in Strasbourg is comparatively lacklustre and that MEPs who'd wish to relax after a long and hard working day aren't offered many opportunities to do so. Pro-Brussels campaigners were bolstered when the position of Strasbourg suffered a minor blow in 2006, as allegations surfaced over charges by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the Parliament was renting. The controversy died down when the European Parliament decided to officially buy the buildings on 24 October 2006.
In May 2006, an online petition, oneseat.eu, was started by Cecilia Malmström
Cecilia Malmström
Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician currently serving as European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission...
, MEP calling for a single seat of Parliament, to be based in Brussels. By September of that year it reached its aim of one million signatures, and according to a provision in the European Constitution a petition signed by a million citizens should be considered by the Commission. The overall validity of the petition was called into doubt, however, due to it being on the Internet and using e-mail addresses instead of street addresses. In addition, the majority of signatories were concentrated in northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
, notably the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(40%). Regardless, the petition is seen by pro-Brussels groups as an important symbol. One signatory to the petition was Commission Vice President Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Margot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy...
; she supported the campaign, stating that "something that was once a very positive symbol of the EU reuniting France and Germany has now become a negative symbol—of wasting money, bureaucracy and the insanity of the Brussels institutions".
In early 2011, the Parliament voted to scrap one of the Strasbourg sessions by holding two within a single week. and the Dutch government joined the calls to scrap the seat all together. The mayor of Strasbourg
Roland Ries
Roland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
officially reacted by stating "we will counter-attack by upturning the adversary's strength to our own profit, as a judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
ka would do" and announced that his town would press forward for a complete relocation of all parliamentary related services of the EU to Strasbourg.
Strasbourg as a single workplace
Some campaigners wish to see the concentration of the Parliament's activities back in Strasbourg (one being a campaign called the "Association for European Democracy" launched on 15 March 2007). This is seen to be symbolic of decentralisationDécentralisation
Décentralisation is a french word for both a policy concept in French politics from 1968-1990, and a term employed to describe the results of observations of the evolution of spatial economic and institutional organization of France....
of the EU away from Brussels Emma Nicholson, the only British MEP to support Strasbourg, argues that being next door to the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
allows MEPs to keep in touch with delegates from the rest of Europe, such as Russia, and that being in Brussels isolates the EU from such influences. Pro-Strasbourg campaigners also argue that Strasbourg offers more independence for Parliament, away from the other institutions and lobby groups in Brussels.
If the Parliament was wholly in Strasbourg, then the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
would also no longer be able to use shortcuts such as "Brussels decided..." rather than discuss the detail of the decision markers. Media would also have to be based in Strasbourg and hence might provide better coverage of the Council of Europe. Strasbourg is also preferred for historical reasons, having changed hands between France and Germany five times between 1870 and 1945. It is also argued that Brussels is no longer a good symbol for European unity given the recent political disputes in Belgium.
This position was supported by President Josep Borrell Fontelles, although he earned come criticism when he stated that the importance of Strasbourg in the context of the Second World War could not be perceived in the same way as France and Germany by "Nordic countries" (a reference to the Swedish MEP who started the one-seat petition). French MEP Brigitte Foure
Brigitte Fouré
Brigitte Fouré is a French university lecturer and former government minister, a member of the Nouveau Centre and of Société en mouvement Brigitte Fouré (born 13 August 1955 in Amiens) is a French university lecturer and former government minister, a member of the Nouveau Centre and of Société en...
started a pro-Strasbourg petition, one-city.eu, in 2008 (countering the Brussels petition) which has gained just over 4200 signatures as of April 2009.
Following the announcement (on 21 October 2010) of the setting up of an "informal seat study group" by British MEP Edward McMillan-Scott
Edward McMillan-Scott
Edward Hugh Christian McMillan-Scott is a British Member of the European Parliament and one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament...
(Liberal Democrats), which was seen as an attack on Strasbourg by the municipality, Roland Ries
Roland Ries
Roland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
and Catherine Trautmann
Catherine Trautmann
Catherine Trautmann is a former Minister of Culture of France and now Member of the European Parliament for the East of France.She was elected as mayor of Strasbourg in 1989, re-elected in 1995, then defeated in 2001....
released (on 29 October 2010) an energetic joint declaration of defense. On November 9 2010, the municipal council of Strasbourg green-lighted a project (envisioned since April of the same year) of the creation of a "Place for Europe" (lieu d′Europe) – a walk-in center for people curious about the European institutions in Strasbourg
European Institutions in Strasbourg
There are a range of European Institutions in Strasbourg , the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city...
– in the former Villa Kaysersguet, an architecturally precious but currently (2010) derelict 18th century mansion neighbouring with the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
and the Agora building of the Council of Europe.
Opinion and actions
Alexander Nuno Alvaro
Alexander Nuno Alvaro is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe...
MEP (ALDE
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
), a pro-Brussels campaigner, found that 89% wanted a single seat and that 81% preferred Brussels. However, despite polling all MEPs, only 39% responded to the questions. Alvaro stated that, after consulting polling firms, this was a high turnout for an opinion poll even if not totally representative. A Parliamentary magazine was pressured to drop the publication of this poll initially, reflecting the sensitive nature of the issue. In the same month, another survey by Simon Hix of the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
and Roger Scully from the University of Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...
found a 68% support for a single seat. In their survey 272 of the 732 people questioned responded. Following each sitting in Strasbourg, hundreds of MEPs sign a petition calling for a reduction of time in Strasbourg, though Pascal Mangin, Strasboug's deputy mayor, does not believe the opinion of the MEPs to be important. Nevertheless, in January 2009 a Parliamentary written declaration calling for one Brussels seat failed to get sufficient support. It gained 286 signatures out of 393 needed for it to be considered. Brussels campaigners cited that it was bad timing, with French and German leaders of Parliament and the main two groups ordering their members not to support the motion. The campaigners vowed to continue the fight while the Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries
Roland Ries
Roland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
this time welcomed the "wisdom of the parliamentarians" and said it signalled their desire for Strasbourg to host the institution alone.
A survey of citizens' attitudes conducted in May 2006 included two questions on the issue of the Parliament's seat. On average, 32% people from all member states supported the two-location policy while 68 were against. Support for one location was higher among men than women, and among people over 35 than under. Support for both locations was one percentage point lower in the 10 countries which joined in 2004 than in the 15 earlier members; No group have more than 40 percent support to two locations. Of those against two seats, 76% supported Brussels and 24% supported Strasbourg. In this case support for Brussels was 6 percentage points higher in the 10 new members with women and the under 35 year-olds. The group with the highest support for Strasbourg was the over 35 year olds with 28 percent support. The citizens of Strasbourg are of course strong supporter's of the Parliament being based in Strasbourg with each session being worth four million euro to the city's economy. In September 2008, Strasbourg's government passed a motion demanding all of Parliament's activities be relocated to the city.
These polls have not affected the position of France, which can veto any such move, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
stating that its seat is "non-negotiable".
Regardless, the government has stated that the issue might be addressed if France were to be offered something of equal value. The Council itself has indicated privately that it would discuss the Strasbourg seat only if Parliament gives them a signal to start a debate, as they would not do on their own initiative. However, few wish to discuss the issue while the current constitutional issues
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
are still present. Although political parties have no formal position, the Greens
European Green Party
The European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
, Liberals
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
and Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
are all outspoken on having Brussels as a permanent seat.
Alternative role for Strasbourg
In January 2003, Green-EFAEuropean Greens–European Free Alliance
The Greens European Free Alliance is one of the parliamentary groups in the European Parliament....
co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit is a Franco-German politician, active in both countries. He was a student leader during the unrest of May 1968 in France and he was also known during that time as Dany le Rouge...
, MEP has proposed turning the Strasbourg seat into a "European university". Elaborating on this in 2008, he sees such a university teaching all subjects and funded directly by the EU with between 15,000 to 20,000 students. The same idea has been put forward in January 2006 by Polish minister and former dissident Bronisław Geremek, in an article originally published by Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
. In an open letter to Cohn-Bendit, Roland Ries
Roland Ries
Roland Ries is a French politician from Alsace, occupying several posts on local, regional and national level since 1997....
, the mayor of Strasbourg, reminded him that the international attractiveness of the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
was related to the presence of European Institutions in Strasbourg
European Institutions in Strasbourg
There are a range of European Institutions in Strasbourg , the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city...
and that it would not be enhanced, but undermined, by the replacement of one of the largest of these institutions by just another, and much smaller, university.
The year before, the proposed European Institute of Technology
European Institute of Technology
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology is a public European institute which was established on 11 March 2008. It was set up in order to ‘address Europe's innovation gap’, and is the EU's flagship education institute designed to assist innovation, research and growth in the European...
had been touted as the university to take over the building. It has been proposed that the Institute could also be merged with European Research Council
European Research Council
The European Research Council is the independent body that funds investigator-driven frontier research in the European Union . It is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme ....
and based there. The vice-chancellors of Strasbourg's three universities have suggested merging to create a 'European University'. It has also been suggested that Strasbourg could host the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
meetings, minor institutions such as the Committee of the Regions
Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is European Union's assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework....
, or the institutions of the proposed Mediterranean Union. The Green Party has proposed having Strasbourg as the home of a new "European Senate".
See also
- Berlaymont buildingBerlaymont buildingThe Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the executive of the European Union...
- Brussels and the European UnionBrussels and the European UnionBrussels is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter...
- Charlemagne buildingCharlemagne buildingThe Charlemagne building is a high-rise in the European Quarter of Brussels , which houses the Directorate-General for Trade and the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission....
- Espace LéopoldEspace LéopoldThe Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union ....
- European institutions in StrasbourgEuropean Institutions in StrasbourgThere are a range of European Institutions in Strasbourg , the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city...
- European Parliament in LuxembourgEuropean Parliament in LuxembourgThe European Parliament's presence in Sandweiler currently consists of the Parliament's secretariat, although the Parliament had held plenary sessions in the city for a brief period.-History:...
- Justus Lipsius buildingJustus Lipsius buildingThe Justus Lipsius building is a building in Brussels that has been the headquarters of the Council of the European Union since 1995. Unlike the European Parliament, visiting is restricted...
- Résidence PalaceRésidence PalaceThe Résidence Palace is a complex of buildings between the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and the Chaussée d'Etterbeek/Etterbeeksesteenweg in the European Quarter of Brussels...
- Seat of the European Parliament in StrasbourgSeat of the European Parliament in StrasbourgThe city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament. The institution is legally bound to meet there twelve sessions a year lasting about four days each. Other work takes place in Brussels and Luxembourg City...
External links
- 1992 European Council decision on seats, European Parliament websiteEuropa (web portal)Europa is the official web portal of the European Union . It is intended to improve the public’s interaction with EU institutions by quickly directing website visitors to the services or information they are seeking. Europa links to all EU agencies and institutions in addition to press releases...
- One City petition, pro-Strasbourg petition
- Le siège du PE: Strasbourg, sereine et déterminée, pro-Strasbourg video
- Le Parlement européen s'effondre StrasTv.com, video report on 2008 damage to Parliament
- One Seat petition, pro-Brussels petition
- European Parliament - One Seat Campaign, pro-Brussels video
- No need for two seats, Video of a 2007 demonstration by German liberals against the two seats
- OneSeat - Cake and Hard Hats, Video of a 2008 demonstration by liberal MEPs against the two seats following temporary relocation