Joseph Daul, French MEP, member of the centre-right EPP, native son of the Alsace as Jon notes in the comments, gets cheeky on Euronews:
That's Joseph Daul defending Strasbourg today. This was Joseph Daul defending Strasbourg in 2006:French MEP Joseph Daul argued that those in the ‘close Strasbourg’ camp are ducking certain realities:
“A Euro-MP wanting to sit solely in Brussels is not being honest. An MEP is obliged to travel. If I want to see the European Central Bank, I go to Frankfurt. I have to go to Luxembourg if I need to see the European Court of Justice. For veterinarian affairs, it’s Dublin. The food safety agency is in Parma… So a European deputy can’t only work and be based in Brussels.”
However, Daul says he is open for discussion. "If the treaties have to be renegotiated, then we renegotiate the whole [of the institutional arrangements], not just the Parliament's seat."My commentary from back then still stands. This is not the kind of EU that will inspire. The policy of spreading quangos is deeply flawed. It leads to unnecessary institutions, and fulfils no useful role for local representation of the EU. In terms of money flows, finally, it's chump change. There may be a legitimate defense of Strasbourg, but this is certainly not it.
"Why have all these agencies in London, Frankfurt or Parma?" he asks. "They too cost a lot of money. Why not relocate them too in Brussels?" According to Daul, these decisions are of a political nature, which, by definition, involves horse-trading.
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2 comments:
Plus you to Dublin or wherever to see those experts who are based there all the time. You don't go to Dublin to see them 3 weeks each month, and then to Waterford 1 week each month... Plus it's not as if they are even visiting anyone in Strasbourg - they are talking to each other the same way as in Brussels.
But anyway Daul is from Alsace, so would you expect anything sensible from him on this issue?
Not really.
Still, there are plenty of reasons for writing about this:
1) Daul regularly gets his comments reported in the EU-centered media (where it is not noted that he is from the Alsace).
2) The bobbing and weaving, as they say in the US, is funny.
3) There are larger points to be made about standing EU policy, which is largely in line with Daul's inept, incoherent defence of Strasbourg (i.e. it is inept and incoherent on these points).
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