EU speaker to Strasbourg: ‘We’ll be back’

BRUSSELS — The speaker of the European Parliament on Thursday promised the French city of Strasbourg that lawmakers would be back to take their seats once the Coronavirus outbreak is over.

The parliament has chambers both in Strasbourg, in eastern France, and in Brussels — an EU oddity that is often criticised for being a waste of time and money, not least by lawmakers themselves.

"The time will come when we can meet and embrace again," promised speaker David Sassoli in an open letter to parliament's "friends in Strasbourg".

Out of concern for spreading the virus by allowing another mass exodus of MEPs and staff from Belgium to France, Sassoli had earlier cancelled the sessions scheduled for Strasbourg in March and April.

A four-day sitting in the mediaeval city involves a mass migration from Belgium to France of over 700 MEPs, accompanied by aides, lobbyists and civil servants.

Given the epidemic, heading to Strasbourg "implied significantly increased health risks", Sassoli, a former Italian news anchorman, warned

The dangers were not only for MEPs and staff, "but also for the regional population in Strasbourg due to the displacement of a large number of people".

France is keen to maintain the prestige — and income — that goes with hosting the sessions, but Sassoli addressed worries that the parliament would seize on the crisis to up stakes permanently for Brussels.

This is a frequent plea of non-French MEPs and the Brussels media political "bubble" even if the choice of Strasbourg — on the Franco-German frontier — is anchored in EU law and bitterly defended by France.

Strasbourg, Sassoli said, "is and will remain the seat of the European Parliament, symbol of Europe's reconciliation after World War II and of Europeans' desire for peace".

"These are difficult times, but the time to embrace each other again will soon come," he said.

As the virus spreads across Europe, EU institutions and agencies — which are mainly based in Brussels — are preparing to make alternative plans for employees.

EU civil servants also receive frequent visits by officials from the bloc's 27 national capitals.

Coronavirus cases have emerged in several EU agencies as well as NATO, the military alliance that is also based in Brussels.

Sources said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is considering asking its more than 30,000 employees in Brussels to work from home, starting next week.

The European Schools, where EU civil servants and diplomats send their children, announced they would close through March 29.