The last parliament, elected in 1994, was no fan of Strasbourg as a location for the plenary sessions, and became even less happy about it over the years. Nonetheless, governments and members gave in to the French and allowed the parliament to be permanently located here and a splendid new building created. Once the decision was made, the heavily subsidised Air France direct fights from the peripheral regions were discontinued and the Irish in particular have been seriously hindered in their journeys.
FG's John Cushnahan spends 13 hours getting to Strasbourg once a month via Shannon, London and Paris. FF's Pat the Cope Gallagher leaves Donegal on a Sunday night and departs Dublin the next morning. Then, whichever way he goes, via Frankfurt or Brussels, it takes at least a further eight hours.
Now the MEPs are locked into Strasbourg, a city chosen for its symbolic position on the Franco-German border, and into a new £500 million building, while many of them believe it would be more efficient and convenient to conduct all business in Brussels.
There were numerous complaints about faults in the very stylish new Palais de Europe - lifts, and even escalators, that skip floors, a scarcity of stairs, blocked off areas and a myriad of teething problems such as unconnected phones, chaos in the restaurants and general mayhem - but there is little can be done about the amazingly difficult access. One old EU hand suggested the way to downgrade Strasbourg, now that the French government no longer has to make it an attractive, convenient location, is to hold more part sessions and other important business in Brussels.
The mood this week was all for it.