EU: A million EU citizens have signed a petition in favour of moving the European Parliament to a single seat in Brussels to save taxpayers €200 million a year.
The petition is one of the first examples of direct citizen advocacy toward the EU institutions, which are regularly accused of being remote and lacking accountability. It advocates moving the seat of the parliament plenary sessions from the French city of Strasbourg to Brussels, where MEPs are already based for three weeks a month.
The Campaign for Parliamentary Reform (CPR), which set up the online petition at www.oneseat.eu, said it recognised the significance of Strasbourg as a symbol of EU reconciliation but said it had become a symbol of the EU's gravy train image.
"The suspension of monthly Strasbourg sessions is not a question of convenience to the MEPs, but rather a question of efficiency of European decision-making. And I see no harm in saving more than €200 million of tax-payers' money on the way," said Finnish MEP and member of the CPR Piia-Noora Kauppi.
Under the EU treaties, once a month MEPs, their assistantsand diplomats must move from Brussels to Strasbourg to vote and take part in debates. It costs more than €200 million a year to have two parliamentary seats, and the process of transporting all the documents and equipment the 400km between the cities, which is dubbed the "travelling circus", harms the environment.
MEPs will present the petition to the European Commission and council tomorrow and demand that they listen to EU citizens.
The petition comes at a crucial time for the parliamentary seat in Strasbourg, with MEPs expected to vote next week on a motion to buy the parliamentary buildings in Strasbourg for €143 million. Critics suggest buying the buildings will only make it more difficult to move to a single parliamentary seat.
A move to change the seat of the parliament would require a unanimous vote of the 25 EU states, including France. The commission sought to distance itself from the reform campaign this week.