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  • Pressure was growing on Friday to delay restarting European Parliament sessions in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, as lawmakers said the sittings would pose an unnecessary health risk. The chorus of calls will raise hackles in France, which is extremely sensitive to any move that threatens Strasbourg's place as the official seat of the EU's 705-member parliament. In reality, the lawmakers' home in Strasbourg is almost purely symbolic, with Brussels the de-facto headquarters and permanent base for MEPs, staff and lobbyists, boasting its own committee rooms and plenary chamber. But the 12 annual sessions in Strasbourg are enshrined in the EU treaties and France has taken the parliament to court on several occasions over alleged violations. Accordingly, every month thousands of staff based in Brussels make their way to Strasbourg, filling up hotels and restaurants for a four-day plenary session before returning home to the Belgian capital. "It is completely incomprehensible if the European Parliament is to meet in Strasbourg soon," tweeted Morten Helveg Petersen, a Danish centrist MEP, who will refuse to go. It would be "irresponsible towards employees and bad example towards others," he added. Since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in March, sessions have been held mainly by videoconference with a reduced presence of MEPs and staff in person in Brussels, with Paris' grudging assent. European Parliament President David Sassoli said he was "waiting to hear the assessment of the French authorities on the health situation in Strasbourg". They will need to provide the "necessary guarantees on the safe travel of the parliament," he tweeted. The next session of parliament is slated for September 14. Some of the major political groups in parliament have voiced their opposition to what is derisively called a "travelling circus" with even French MEPs calling for the Strasbourg trips to be delayed longer. "Once it is established that there is no doubt about the status of Strasbourg, we must respond to extraordinary circumstances by extraordinary measures," socialist MEP Eric Andrieu told AFP. "It would be irresponsible towards the people of Strasbourg, as well as Europeans travelling from all over to keep the session," he said. arp/pdw/tgb
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  • Virus-fearing MEPs resist parliament session in Strasbourg
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