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Seat of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg: Not very climate-friendly
Photo: Dirk Sattler / IMAGO
In view of skyrocketing energy prices, German MEPs from various parties have also called on the EU Parliament to take austerity measures.
As the "Bild" newspaper reports, German MEPs across party lines called for the parliamentary system to be suspended in the French city of Strasbourg.
Over the winter months, Parliament should instead meet in Brussels.
"We should only meet in Brussels by spring," said CDU environmental politician Peter Liese (CDU).
According to "Bild", he also addressed his concerns in a letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
According to MEP Moritz Körner (FDP), the parliament building in Strasbourg should be "immediately put into energy hibernation".
The SPD politician justified his claim with the austerity calls on EU citizens.
“The simultaneous heating and lighting of two building complexes in Brussels and Strasbourg is a mockery of the taxpayer,” said Körner.
Green MP Daniel Freund also considers a longer suspension of parliamentary operations in Strasbourg beyond the winter to be conceivable.
The EU Parliament should no longer meet in Strasbourg "until the energy crisis is over," he said.
The European Taxpayers' Association is also calling for a rethink when it comes to commuting.
The "traveling circus" was "an ecological and economic disaster," said its general secretary Michael Jäger of the "Bild".
"Hopefully the current crisis will lead to a rethink," he said.
The commuting of the entire representative body between Brussels and Strasbourg is not very climate-friendly.
According to EU plans, its own bodies should set out an ambitious path towards climate neutrality: the EU institutions should at least have a neutral CO2 balance sheet by 2030.
mike/AFP
