Liz speaks out against Strasbourg travel chaos

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st Jul 2003

The European Parliament must meet once a month in Strasbourg (building pictured), although it is based in Brussels.

MEP for the West Midlands Liz Lynne has spoken out against the woefully inadequate transport links between the UK and the European Parliament based in Strasbourg after a group of MEPs including herself were prevented by Air France officials from boarding their plane to Strasbourg yesterday.

Finally in Strasbourg, Liz raised a point of order in the European Parliament today to complain about the situation and call for the Parliament's President Pat Cox to write to the French President on the matter.

MEPs from all political backgrounds and from across Europe all groan at the prospect of having to face another "Strasbourg week". The European Parliament meets in Strasbourg once a month, largely at the insistence of the French government. Thousands of staff – and a fleet of articulated lorries carrying tons of official documents – must travel between Brussels and Strasbourg and back again every time.

To make matters worse, two months ago, Air France – which is partly owned and subsidised by the French government – cancelled direct flights from Gatwick to Strasbourg. The many UK MEPs who used to depend on this flight now have to travel via Heathrow and Paris. The total journey time has risen from 2 hours to 6.

This Monday however, several UK MEPs from all political parties were prevented from boarding the plane from Paris to Strasbourg, despite the plane still being at the gate, because their connecting flight from Heathrow had arrived late. The MEPs eventually arrived at the Parliament at 8.30pm, missing a lot of Parliamentary business.

Commenting on the situation, Liz said:

"Over the past two months, what has always been a difficult situation has become simply intolerable. If the French government are so keen on ensuring that the Parliament meets in Strasbourg, it is incumbent on them to provide adequate transport."

"Yesterday's incident was the last straw. The right of MEPs to do their job is not in the gift of Air France to grant and take away when they see fit.

"If MEPs cannot have any guarantee that they will be able to get into Strasbourg before the Parliament itself opens, then serious questions must be asked about whether insisting on holding Parliament there is undermining the ability of MEPs from certain countries to take part on a full and equal basis. It is high time the matter was resolved."