More on ending the EU's travelling circus

8.06.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Jul 2007

Colin Ross at the European Parliament

I know I go on about this a fair bit, but it is important (to me at least). There are a fair few petitions around but the latest is at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/StopStrasbourg/ This petition calls upon the Prime Minister to exert pressure on other EU member states to end the monthly Strasbourg travelling circus by the European Parliament.

A poll conducted by the Campaign for Parliament Reform (CPR) has revealed an overwhelming majority, 89% of MEPs, not only want one permanent seat for the European Parliament but also that 81% want the seat to be in Brussels. 84% also believed the Parliament should be able to decide on its own the location of its seat. Strasbourg costs £200 million a year and leaves a massive carbon footprint. The monthly move of the European Parliament from Brussels to Strasbourg is producing 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the greenhouse gases produced by 13,000 round-trip flights from London to New York. As long as MEPs have to travel to Strasbourg , people will rightly say that the EU is wasting money - Strasbourg is a waste of taxpayers money. It is time for national governments to bite the bullet and end the wasteful monthly commute, and to give the European Parliament a long overdue permanent home in Brussels.