MEPs will move ahead with plans to renovate one of the European Parliament’s main buildings costing over €500 million despite the optics of the high costs as Europeans face recession and a cost of living crisis.
During a vote in the Budgetary Committee on Monday (10 October), a majority led by the centre-right EPP group and liberal Renew Europe opposed a Socialist group amendment calling on the Parliament’s bureau to “explore savings opportunities and to totally reconsider the project on the future of the Spaak building in Brussels”.
Renovating or rebuilding the Spaak building has been on the Parliament’s agenda for several years, but progress has advanced since Roberta Metsola took over as Parliament President in November 2020 from Italy’s David Sassoli.
The estimated cost of rebuilding the Spaak building, which was built in 1994 and houses the Parliament’s plenary chamber, has been put at €500 million. However, officials in the assembly have warned that the costs could quickly escalate to €1billion.
The renovation in Brussels would also create a complicated issue for the five mini-sessions when the Spaak building hosts plenary sessions and would require an alternative venue to be found.
Hard to explain in Strasbourg
The EPP, Greens and Renew Europe also blocked a Socialist amendment opposing the purchase of the Osmose building in Strasbourg, which sits next to the main Parliament building, as part of an exchange deal involving the Salvador De Madariaga building.
Osmose, which offers 15,000 square metres of office space, was developed by a private contractor and completed last year in the hope that the Parliament would purchase it.
In February, Clément Beaune, then France’s EU relations minister, announced that an agreement in principle had been reached for the Parliament to buy the Osmose building though the purchase is still yet to be confirmed.
Nils Ušakovs, the Socialist and Democrat group’s spokesperson on the file, told EURACTIV that the timing of the renovation, and the large potential costs involved, would be hard to explain to European citizens.
“These projects are not bad per se, but it is the worst possible timing,” he said, adding that the purchases could have a damaging effect on the public perception of the EU institutions.
The Madariaga building, which has housed offices for Parliament officials for more than forty years, is intended to be sold to a private company but be turned into a hotel for MEPs and officials. Officials have long complained that Strasbourg hoteliers dramatically hike their prices for the weeks when the parliament is in session, although it is unclear whether the new hotel conversion would offer cheaper rates.
The final decision on the Parliament’s buildings rests with the assembly’s bureau, composed of the Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola, the fourteen vice-presidents and five quaestors.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
