This is the Message Centre for sprout
What MEPs Do
Bernadette Lynn_ Home Educator Started conversation Jul 26, 2004
I am working on this, at A2821664, and wondered if you could help with a couple of things.
"While we are on the subject of the travelling circus to Strasbourg, you might like to know that the MEPs are not to blame for that. The responsibility for maintaining the monthly trek to Strasbourg and the environmental, social and economic damage this causes is down to the national governments and France in particular."
Why do MEPs go to Strasbourg? I have no idea and I suspect there are other people as clueless as me. Also have you any links to back up that last statement? I rather feel it calls for a link.
Would you be very disappointed if I threw out the word 'knackering' in the last paragraph, as it is a colloquial expression with which most people will not be familiar?
What MEPs Do
sprout Posted Aug 2, 2004
Hi
The European Parliament is based in Strasbourg and must have most of its plenary (full) sessions there. However, nearly every other EU body is based in Brussels, and if the EP wants to have influence, that's where they need to be. So they have their committee sessions and some plenaries in Brussels, and one week in four they pack all the papers in boxes and everyone takes the train or plane to Strasbourg.
This is, not surprisingly, quite costly and inefficient, and the EP has passed resolutions stating that it would prefer to be based in Brussels. Unfortunately, the EP doesn't have the power to decide where it sits, the Member States do. France doesn't want to see the EP move away from Strasbourg for symbolic and economic reasons, and the other Member States don't care enough to put any real pressure on. And so the whole sorry situation continues. I'll see if I can find a link explaining things.
Thanks for your editing help,
sprout
What MEPs Do
sprout Posted Aug 2, 2004
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1275036_1_A,00.html%3Fmpb%3Den
The above is not a bad link - sets out the situation in a reasonably neutral way.
sprout
What MEPs Do
Bernadette Lynn_ Home Educator Posted Aug 3, 2004
Thanks. It's too late for me to do anything now but I'll finish this tomorrow.
What MEPs Do
sprout Posted Aug 5, 2004
Looks good - thanks very much.
Just one small point - the link in your BBC bit at the bottom has run into the sentence.
sprout
Key: Complain about this post
What MEPs Do
More Conversations for sprout
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."