Editing European Parliament (section)

==Seat==
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| header            = Seats of the European Parliament
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| image1            = 
| alt1              = Louise Weiss Building in [[Strasbourg]], France
| caption1          = [[Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg|Louise Weiss Building]] in [[Strasbourg]], {{Flag|France}}
| image2            = European Parliament (DSC01793).jpg
| alt2              = Espace Léopold building in [[Brussels]], Belgium
| caption2          = [[Espace Léopold]] building in [[Brussels]], {{Flag|Belgium}}
| image3            = Luxembourg, Europaparlament Parlement européen tram stop (104).jpg
| alt3              = Konrad Adenauer building in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
| caption3          = [[Konrad Adenauer]] building in [[Luxembourg City]], {{Flag|Luxembourg}} (seat of the Secretariat-General)
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}}

{{Further|Location of European Union institutions|Espace Léopold|Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg}}

The Parliament is based in three different cities with numerous buildings. The Member States attached a protocol to the [[Treaty of Amsterdam]] that requires 12 plenary sessions to be held in [[Strasbourg]] (in practice, none in August but two in October), which is described as the Parliament's official seat, while extra part sessions as well as committee meetings are held in [[Brussels]]. Luxembourg City hosts the [[Secretariat of the European Parliament]].<ref name="Consolidated Treaty"/> The European Parliament is one of at least two assemblies in the world with more than one meeting place (another being the [[Tynwald|parliament of the Isle of Man, Tynwald]]) and one of the few that does not have the power to decide its own location.<ref name="Strange">{{cite web|last=Alvaro|first=Alexander|title=Europe's strangest migrants|date=6 July 2006|publisher=Café Babel|url=http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/1906/europes-strangest-migrants.html|access-date=1 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122025558/http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/1906/europes-strangest-migrants.html|archive-date=22 January 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The Strasbourg seat is considered a symbol of reconciliation between France and Germany, two countries that previously fought over the region. However, the cost and inconvenience of having two seats is questioned. While Strasbourg is the official seat, and sits alongside the [[Council of Europe]],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Council of Europe and the European Union sign an agreement to foster mutual cooperation|date=23 May 2007|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR331(2007)&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&BackColorInternet=F5CA75&BackColorIntranet=F5CA75&BackColorLogged=A9BACE&ShowBanner=no&Target=_self|publisher=[[Council of Europe]]|access-date=12 June 2007 }}</ref> [[Brussels and the European Union|Brussels is home to nearly all other major EU institutions]], with the majority of Parliament's work being carried out there. Critics have described the two-seat arrangement as a "travelling circus",<ref name="Seat Green">{{cite web|title=Greens condemn EU parliament's 'traveling circus' |date=26 April 2007 |url=http://www.4ecotips.com/eco/article_show.php?aid=1222&id=280 |publisher=4ecotips |access-date=5 July 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519183136/http://www.4ecotips.com/eco/article_show.php?aid=1222&id=280 |archive-date=19 May 2007 }}</ref> and there is a strong movement to establish Brussels as the sole seat. This is because the other political institutions (the Commission, Council and European Council) are located there, and hence Brussels is treated as the '[[Capital city|capital]]' of the EU. This movement has received strong backing from numerous figures, including [[Margot Wallström]], Commission First-Vice President from 2004 to 2010, who stated that "something that was once a very positive symbol of the EU reuniting France and Germany has now become a negative symbol{{snd}} of wasting money, bureaucracy and the insanity of the Brussels institutions".<ref>{{cite web|title=Wallstrom: "Strasbourg has become a negative symbol"|date=5 September 2006|publisher=EurActiv|url=http://www.euractiv.com/future-eu/wallstroem-strasbourg-negative-s-news-216926|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> The [[European Green Party|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 200&nbsp;million euro spent on the extra seat, there are over 20,268&nbsp;tonnes of additional carbon dioxide, undermining any environmental stance of the institution and the Union.<ref name="Seat Green"/> The campaign is further backed by a million-strong online petition started by [[Cecilia Malmström]] MEP.<ref>{{cite web|last=Malmström|first=Cecilia|author-link=Cecilia Malmström|title=OneSeat.eu|url=http://www.oneseat.eu/|access-date=12 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609081546/http://www.oneseat.eu/|archive-date=9 June 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In August 2014, an assessment by the European Court of Auditors calculated that relocating the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament to Brussels would save €113.8 million per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euractiv.com/sections/future-eu/auditors-put-price-tag-eu-parliament-travelling-circus-303846|title=Auditors put price tag on EU Parliament 'travelling circus'|date=August 2014}}</ref> In 2006, there were allegations of irregularities in the charges made by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the Parliament rented, thus further harming the case for the Strasbourg seat.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kroeger|first=Alix|title=EU and Strasbourg in rent row|date=27 April 2006|publisher=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4952228.stm|access-date=5 July 2007}}</ref>

Most MEPs prefer Brussels as a single base.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wheatly|first=Paul|title=The two-seat parliament farce must end|date=2 October 2006|url=http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/2047/the-two-seat-parliament-farce-must-end.html|publisher=Café Babel|access-date=12 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610174433/http://www.cafebabel.com/en/article.asp?T=A&Id=2047 |archive-date=10 June 2007}}</ref> A poll of MEPs found 89% of the respondents wanting a single seat, and 81% preferring Brussels.<ref>{{cite web|title=Euro MPs want to scrap Strasbourg base: poll|date=13 June 2007|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1181757615.41|publisher=EU Business|access-date=22 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165033/http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1181757615.41 |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> Another survey found 68% support.<ref name="Farrell Powerful"/> In July 2011, an absolute majority of MEPs voted in favour of a single seat.<ref>[http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/majority-of-meps-now-favour-single-seat/ Majority of MEPs now favour single seat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716022548/http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/majority-of-meps-now-favour-single-seat/ |date=16 July 2011 }} theparliament.com</ref> In early 2011, the Parliament voted to scrap one of the Strasbourg sessions by holding two within a single week.<ref>{{cite web|title=MEPs vote to reduce Strasbourg calendar |date=10 March 2011 |publisher=EurActiv |access-date=24 March 2011 |url=http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/meps-vote-reduce-strasbourg-calendar-news-502987 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312115210/http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/meps-vote-reduce-strasbourg-calendar-news-502987 |archive-date=12 March 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref> The [[Roland Ries|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".<ref>{{cite web|title=Le conseil municipal adopte à l'unanimité une motion confortant et élargissant le siège du Parlement européen à Strasbourg|date=21 March 2011|publisher=EurActiv|access-date=24 March 2011 |url=http://www.strasbourg.eu/accueil?ItemID=1633917363}}</ref> However, as Parliament's seat is now fixed by the treaties, it can only be changed by the Member States, acting unanimously and with national ratification, meaning that France could veto any move.<ref name="Strange"/> Former [[French President]] [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] stated that the Strasbourg seat is "non-negotiable" and that France has no intention of surrendering the only EU Institution on French soil.<ref>{{cite web|last=Banks |first=Martin |title=Sarkozy slated over Strasbourg seat |date=24 May 2007 |publisher=EU Politix: The Parliament |url=http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200705/8216d9d5-0c44-46e2-a6d8-6166c30e812f.htm |access-date=22 June 2007 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225555/http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200705/8216d9d5-0c44-46e2-a6d8-6166c30e812f.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> Given France's declared intention to veto any relocation to Brussels, some MEPs have advocated [[civil disobedience]] by refusing to take part in the monthly exodus to Strasbourg.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/thereporters/markmardell/2007/12/post_5.html Giving up the Strasbourg junket] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325182034/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2007/12/post_5.html |date=25 March 2019 }} Mark Mardell, BBC News. 4 December 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.policyreview.eu/meps-demand-single-seat-in-brussels-but-france-refuses-to-give-up-on-strasbourg/|title=MEPs demand single seat in Brussels but France refuses to give up on Strasbourg - Policy Review|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160517215034/http://www.policyreview.eu/meps%2Ddemand%2Dsingle%2Dseat%2Din%2Dbrussels%2Dbut%2Dfrance%2Drefuses%2Dto%2Dgive%2Dup%2Don%2Dstrasbourg/|archive-date=17 May 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euractiv.com/future-eu/meps-voted-monthly-travels-stras-news-515651|title=MEPs vote to end monthly travel to Strasbourg|date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

However, the main building in Brussels has been suffering for more than a decade from a state of degradation. Renovation or reconstruction works including a hemicycle were estimated to cost at least €500 million in 2017 with fear that the cost would be even higher<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-06-13 |title=European Parliament 'panic' at cost of new building |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/european-parliament-panic-at-cost-of-new-building/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=Politico}}</ref> and possibly escalate up to €1 billion,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fox |first=Benjamin |date=2022-10-11 |title=MEPs back €500m Parliament building works despite 'worst possible timing' |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/meps-back-e500m-parliament-building-works-despite-worst-possible-timing/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=euractiv.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> whereas the seat in Strasbourg already offers a fully-fledged hemicycle.