The three towers: how many seats to rule them all?

EU Untangled

Join Victor Aguilar and Alex Roth as they tackle the fiery debate surrounding the European Parliament’s odd arrangement of having a “single seat” but multiple places of work. Why do hundreds of parliamentary staff travel monthly between Brussels and Strasbourg? Is this practice a symbol of unity or an outdated extravagance?

We discuss the practicality and cost of this system, citing concerns over inefficiencies, environmental impact, and logistical nightmares. But we also highlight the historical and symbolic importance of Strasbourg, arguing that it represents peace and balance within the EU. Could a single place of work simplify the operations of the house of EU democracy, or would it undermine the very ideals upon which the EU was built?

Tune in for an interesting debate and explore whether tradition or transformation should prevail in the governance of the European Parliament. Engage with us across our social platforms—your thoughts might just shape the next episode!

See EU next time!

Hosted & produced by

Victor Aguilar & Alexander Roth

Useful links

• Video on “Why does the Parliament have two seats?” (European Parliament)
• Why does Parliament move between Brussels and Strasbourg? (European Parliament)
• EU parliament’s €114m-a-year move to Strasbourg ‘a waste of money’, but will it ever be scrapped? (euronews)
• Analysis of potential savings to the EU budget if the European Parliament centralised its Operations (European Court of Auditors)
• 2023 Environmental Statement covering 2022 (European Parliament)
• Over 90 percent of EU Parliament staff sick of Strasbourg (EU Monitor)
• Strasbourg suffers as coronavirus keeps Parliament away (Politico)
• Keep the European Parliament in Strasbourg to fight Euroskepticism, says city’s mayor (Politico)

Listen

… to a few of our previous episodes:

• “Can the EU engineer innovation?”
• “Tracking the ups and downs of cross-border train travel in the EU”
• “How to land a job in the EU?”

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Chapter

1. Welcome (00:00:00)

2. Introduction to the debate (00:01:55)

3. It's in the treaties (00:04:38)

4. History of the EU parliament (00:07:04)

5. Increased complexity (00:09:50)

6. (Legit) inefficiencies and decentralisation (00:12:40)

7. EU parliament staff is unhappy (00:17:15)

8. Straßbourg as a symbol of peace (00:19:37)

9. Inefficiencies fuel anti-EU sentiments (00:23:42)

10. Moving to Brussels and costs for Straßbourg (00:25:50)

11. Economic and environmental costs of several working places (00:30:30)

12. Political costs of changing the status quo (00:37:05)

13. Conclusion (00:39:33)

14. Outro (00:41:59)