19/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - There was lively debate in Strasbourg after the initiative from MEP and former minister Paolo Cirino Pomicino (Alleanza Popolare-UDEUR) to ask the Italian Council to make a government aeroplane available to Italian MEPs for their trips to the capital of Alsace for plenary sessions of the Parliament. This is an initiative which has already been rejected by several Italian MEPs and which Mr Cirino Pomicino, who calls it "experimental", justifies in the following way in a communication: connections to Strasbourg are difficult, and as a result, MEPs often risk missing votes; the initiative "is not free of charge, because each MEP would have to give up half of the expenses given by the European Parliament"; MEPs from other countries benefit from similar advantages.