On Friday 10 February, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Harlem Désir, announced that France had brought proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union to challenge the adoption by the European Parliament, on 1 December of last year, of the general budget of the EU for 2017 at a 'mini-session' in Brussels, rather than in Strasbourg at an ordinary plenary session.
The French government takes the view that this procedure is in breach of the provisions of the European Treaties establishing the seats of the institutions, the French Secretary of State explained, adding that according to Protocol no. 6 annexed to the Treaties on establishing the seats of the institutions of the European Union, the budgetary session should be held in Strasbourg.
Désir stressed that the case brought by France did not intend to call into question either the adoption of the budget of 2017, which France voted in favour of, or its execution. The reason behind the case is simply to ensure that the provisions of the treaty as regards the Strasbourg seat are respected, the French Secretary of State explained, adding that his government had asked the Court of Justice, “if it should find in favour of its request, to maintain the effects of the act whereby the President of the European Parliament noted that the budget was adopted until definitively adopted by an act in accordance with the Treaties”.
This is not the first time that France has gone before the Court to defend the Strasbourg seat. In 2012, the Court upheld a French appeal when the MEPs decided to scrap the two four-day plenary sessions in October 2012 and 2013 and to replace them with two two-day sessions in the course of the same week (see EUROPE 10751).
Although the Parliament has not officially reacted, a source told EUROPE that the Parliament fully respected the right of the member states to take legal proceedings against the Parliament or any other institution if it felt that its interests were in question. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)