Strasbourg Parliament saga “beyond a joke”
says South East MEP

South East England MEP Nirj Deva has today (Friday) demanded answers on revelations that the European Parliament is to spend £100 million to stay in Strasbourg just as EU auditor reveals up to €100 million overpaid to the city in rent scandal.

EU auditors reported that the City of Strasbourg has taken up to €100 million more than it should from the European Parliament’s rent budget. At the same time, Conservative MEPs were shocked to learn that the Parliament President [Speaker] Josep Borrell has been trying to negotiate the purchase of the Strasbourg parliamentary buildings for a further €136 million in defiance of increasing opposition from MEPs.

Conservative Members of the European Parliament intent on ending the wasteful Strasbourg 'circus', lead by Delegation Leader Timothy Kirkhope, have today written to the Parliament President Josep Borrell demanding full disclosure of his negotiations to buy the Parliament buildings from the City of Strasbourg, alleging that he is steamrollering through an expensive and controversial folly without seeking the authority of Parliament's Budgetary Control committee and ignoring completely the continuing scandal of rent overpayment. A Price Waterhouse Coopers report has estimated the rent overspend at €60 million whilst an internal Parliament audit considers that the overspend on rent over thirty years is even greater at 'up to €100 million'*. Both figures are far higher than the original overspend estimate of €32 million.

Nirj Deva MEP for South East England for said:

“The Strasbourg saga goes from the sublime to the ridiculous to the downright scandalous.

“At a time when schools and hospitals in my constituency struggle to make ends meet, this kind of staggering waste and inefficiency really does beggar belief.

“Why is the European Parliament seriously considering paying £100 million of taxpayer’s money to a city which has already pocketed up to €100 million too much for a building no-one wants or needs?

"It is highly suspicious. Even the Parliamentary Committee** responsible have said in a letter to the President [Speaker] of the Parliament that they “learned with surprise that Parliament continues to pursue the negotiation” and demanded transparency from him which they have not received.

"Together with my colleagues in the European Parliament and the 770,000 people across the 25 EU member states who have signed an online petition, we believe that the Strasbourg site is a symbol of waste and inefficiency in a Europe that is crying out for reform. We will not stop in our resolve to stop Strasbourg.

“I would call on my constituents in the South East to sign the online petition at www.oneseat.eu.

"We have kept the UK Government fully informed throughout this saga but they have done absolutely nothing at any level."

In their letter to the Parliament President [Speaker] the Conservatives said:

"We must… advise you that to proceed with the purchase is unacceptable… but to attempt to do so without first obtaining the all clear from the auditor is reckless, irresponsible and democratically dubious. We demand that purchase negotiations are terminated and full disclosures of those negotiations are revealed to the Parliament. We remind you that, as President of the Parliament, you must bear full responsibility."

ENDS

* Internal Auditor's Report: "The Internal Audit Service concludes that the table as presented by the City of Strasbourg on 15th May 2006 does not provide a reliable basis for further decision-making on the implications of the difference between the rents paid by the European Parliament and the city."

**Working Group (Strasbourg Buildings) Committee of Budgetary Control