Do you know these 5 facts about the European institutions? – 20 minutes
- The European Parliament in Strasbourg no longer serves MEPs since … February 2020.
- Is its seat in the Alsatian capital threatened? “The State will never let Strasbourg down”, reassured the French Secretary of State for European Affairs. Clement Beaune.
- “Strasbourg will be the main place of European influence for France in the coming months,” he added.
Strasbourg European capital? Since February 2020, approximately fourteen months, no session has been organized in the European Parliament. A situation that dragged on and made some people say that MEPs could finally sit permanently in Brussels.
A speech against which the French Secretary of State for European Affairs is fighting. Clément Beaune assured Monday that “the State will never let Strasbourg down”. The new three-year contract 2021-2023, which aims to strengthen the city’s European influence, amounting to 189 million euros, must be signed very quickly, ”he said in an interview with the regional daily.
The Latest News from Alsace (DNA).
Strengthening strategy on the Brussels side
This contract will materialize “the commitment of France and the government in supporting Strasbourg during this difficult period without a session” of the EP, he insisted. “The effort is produced by (…) the State and the communities”, in particular “on the major issues which are sometimes criticized with regard to Strasbourg, including accessibility”, he insisted.
While rehabilitation work of 500 million euros is planned in the Paul-Henri Spaak building in Brussels, Clément Beaune said he had “asked for details to postpone decisions on possible developments” in the Belgian capital and put in guard against a “strategy to strengthen the presence of Brussels”. “We are intervening with the management of the European Parliament so that decisions are not taken in a rush and that the Brussels projects do not weaken Strasbourg,” he insisted.
“The main place of European influence for France”
With the approach of the French presidency of the European Union which will begin on January 1, “Strasbourg will be the main place of European influence of France these next months”, he assured. Clément Beaune has announced an “upcoming” visit by Emmanuel Macron to this city in order to “mark his support for the European capital at the highest level”.
The official seat of the EP is established in Strasbourg by the European treaties, a modification of which would require the unanimity of the Member States. But in fact, most of the parliamentary work takes place in Brussels, where the Parliament also has a hemicycle. Normally, MEPs go once a month to the Alsatian capital for plenary sessions during which they vote on the texts.