Call for change as roof caves in

MEP Chris Davies

The roof has literally fallen in at the European Parliament — prompting Rochdale MEP Chris Davies to use the catastrophe to call for major changes to the institution.

The Parliament’s Secretary-General informed MEPs that 10 per cent of the vast debating chamber’s ceiling in Strasbourg has collapsed.

Serious damage was caused to the room, which was opened in 1999 and is often compared to an aircraft hangar in size.

With the Parliament in recess until Monday, no one was hurt in the incident. But with repair work expected to cost more than one million euros it is doubtful whether the chamber will be fit for use in time for the next session.

MEPs split their time between Strasbourg and Brussells, where there is another fully-equipped parliament building that’s used for three weeks every month.

A treaty agreed by all 27 EU governments states they are required to meet 12 times a year in Strasbourg — a procedure said to cost more than £120million annually and often criticised as a “travelling circus”.

Despite the arrangements being unpopular with many MEPs, Strasbourg is regarded by the French and many Germans as a symbol of unity after years of European division and attempts to change the treaty provisions have always faced the prospect of veto.

But Lib Dem Rochdale MEP Chris Davies says the latest problem could allow major reform to take place.

He said: “Instead of being bound by ridiculous arrangements we should put an end to the nonsense of the parliament’s perpetual momentum.

“To save taxpayers’ money and to do its job more effectively it should be permanently based in Brussels, alongside the other EU institutions.

“The treaty agreed by governments may require MEPs to hold 12 sessions in Strasbourg each year, but there is nothing to say how long or how short a session need be.

“We should turn catastrophe into opportunity and meet continuously in Brussels. To comply with the treaty we can arrange for all 12 of the required sessions in Strasbourg to be held on just one day a year, successively at hourly intervals.”