On Monday at 5pm, at the same time as the debates were opening in the Brussels chamber, more than fifty elected representatives from Alsace gathered in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to defend ‘their’ seat, which has been deprived of plenary sessions for the 13th consecutive time.
Initiated by Frédéric Bierry, President of the European Collectivity of Alsace, this event brought together the entire political spectrum, from the environmentalists to the Republicans, the Socialist Party and the French presidential majority. The President of the Grand Est Region, the President of the Eurometropole, the Mayor of Strasbourg, as well as other mayors, members of parliament and departmental councillors were present.
MEPs Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe) and Anne Sander (EPP) were also present, as well as Socialist Catherine Trautmann, former mayor of the city and MEP.
Summed up by Frédéric Bierry, the message was clear: at this stage of the pandemic, “Covid is an excuse and the health reasons are even less acceptable as the situation is better in Strasbourg than in Brussels”, as evidenced by the fact that two consecutive parliamentary sessions were held in the Council of Europe chamber.
The launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe scheduled for 9 May in Strasbourg, is a positive signal for them. In this context, they intend to offer the Presidents of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU a visit to the Osmose building (15,000m2), which will be delivered in September, in the immediate vicinity of Louise Weiss.
“Letters have been sent to the European Parliament to propose these premises”, says Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg, “The dossier has to be dealt with by the political groups, which have planned to meet on these property issues this week. They will have six months after delivery to make a decision” A second building of 25,000m2 is planned for 2022.
“In addition to the return of the plenary sessions in May, we want to welcome civil servants and other European players to Strasbourg on a permanent basis”, explains Frédéric Bierry. “At present, Brussels has 5,000 officials, Luxembourg 2,000 and Strasbourg 300. This imbalance was detrimental to us at the beginning of the crisis and in the future we want to be able to provide plenary sessions in all circumstances”.
Jean Rottner, President of the Grand Est Region, went back to the “Strasbourg European Capital” three-year contract between the State and local authorities (189 million for 2021-2023). In particular, it will focus on the city’s air and rail accessibility.
In Strasbourg, it is hoped that it will be signed on 9 May in the presence of the President of the French Republic. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)