The European Parliament building in Strasbourg is still out of operation

Brussels - Opponents of the two seats of the European Parliament, located in Strasbourg and Brussels, will receive satisfaction next month. The regular plenary session will not take place in Strasbourg, but in Brussels. However, the culprit is not the European Union's decision that both seats are a waste of taxpayers' money, but a collapsed ceiling in the main meeting hall, which has yet to be repaired.
    The long-standing discussion about what many deem the nonsensical transfer between the two cities has received a new impetus, despite the fact that it is purely a technical problem. "The fact that the plenary session is moving to Brussels due to structural defects is a good thing. It proves that the Brussels building is fully sufficient for parliamentary proceedings, all the necessary facilities are available. I consider the Strasbourg meetings to be an anachronism," stated MEP Zuzana Roithová to ČTK, pointing out that the transfers between Strasbourg and Brussels cost taxpayers 200 million euros a year (almost five billion crowns).
    The back and forth between France and Belgium, however, is not only a burden on taxpayers' wallets but also on the environment. A recent study showed that each year, more than 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide are added to the atmosphere from these journeys. For comparison, this is the same amount of harmful carbon produced by 13,000 round trips from London to New York.
    The call to limit the seats to just one has not yet been heeded in the European Union, even though it is desired by the citizens. Over 1.2 million people have signed a Europe-wide petition to abolish the Strasbourg seat to this day. However, such a step would require the consent of all 27 EU member states, which is highly unlikely to obtain. This is primarily due to the resistance of the French, for whom the Parliament's seat is a significant source of income.
    It is far more likely that once the damaged ceiling in the Strasbourg building is repaired, meetings will again take place there every month. The question remains when the construction work will end. Approximately 80 square meters of the ceiling collapsed in the meeting hall, and it is still unclear why this occurred. The entire building is relatively new, dating from 1999.