Seat Of The European Parliament In Strasbourg

Right. Let’s talk about buildings. Because nothing says “dynamic political union” quite like a sprawling, legally-mandated real estate portfolio. If you were looking for the legislative body of the European Union , you might think there’s a simple answer. You’d be wrong.

“Buildings of the European Parliament” might lead you here, but if you’re looking for the ones in Brussels, the ones where most of the work actually gets done, you need to look at Espace Léopold . Don’t get confused. Or do. It seems to be part of the system.

Louise Weiss building

Immeuble du Parlement Européen IV (IPE 4)

The city of Strasbourg , in a feat of determined geography and political compromise, stands as the official seat of the European Parliament . This isn’t a casual arrangement; the institution is shackled to the location by a decision of the Edinburgh European Council of 11 and 12 December 1992 and Article 341 of the TFEU . The decree mandates that Parliament must convene here twelve times a year for a session, each of which mercifully lasts only about four days.

Of course, the vast majority of the actual work happens in Brussels , with some administrative overflow handled in Luxembourg City (a whole other saga detailed under Location of European Union institutions ). To add a layer of procedural absurdity, all formal votes of the European Parliament are required to take place in Strasbourg. Any “additional” sessions or committee meetings are relegated to Brussels. So, while the operational center of gravity has undeniably shifted to Belgium, Strasbourg remains the official, legally protected home. This situation, as you might imagine, is a source of endless, simmering criticism from the European Parliament itself, not to mention a chorus of interest groups, administrative staff who enjoy the monthly migration, and environmentalists who tally the carbon footprint of this political theatre.

The Parliament’s collection of six buildings, each named after a sufficiently distinguished European politician, is clustered in the city’s Quartier Européen (European Quarter ). It shares this manicured space with other European organizations that exist entirely separate from the European Union’s machinery, like the Council of Europe . In a past life, the Parliament even had to share an assembly room with them. Today, its principal monument to itself is the Louise Weiss building, a structure inaugurated in 1999 and named for the formidable women’s rights activist and former MEP, Louise Weiss . One assumes she would have had opinions on the matter.

Principal building

Behold the Louise Weiss building (officially IPE 4), named for Louise Weiss , a French former parliamentarian whose legacy is now attached to this glass and steel behemoth. It’s situated in the Wacken district of Strasbourg, just south of Schiltigheim , nestled between a 1920s workers’ suburban colony, the Cité Ungemach , and the 1950s exhibition halls of the Strasbourg fair. Some of those halls had to be demolished to make way for the Immeuble du Parlement européen 4, its formal, less poetic name.

Erected at a cost of 3.1 billion French francs (a cool 470 million euros), it sits at the strategic intersection of the Ill river and the Marne-Rhine Canal . Inside this sprawling complex is the main hemicycle for plenary sessions, the largest of any European institution. It boasts 750 seats for MEPs (later expanded to 785, because there’s always room for more bureaucracy) and another 680 for visitors who presumably come to watch democracy in its natural habitat. The building also contains 18 other assembly rooms and a staggering 1,133 parliamentary offices. A covered footbridge, arching over the Ill, connects the Louise Weiss to the Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga buildings, ensuring no one has to brave the elements when moving between monuments of administration.

With a surface area of 220,000m² and its unmissable 60m tower, it’s one of the largest and most visually assertive structures in Strasbourg. The Louise Weiss was designed by the Paris-based architectural team Architecture-Studio , who claimed to be inspired by Roman amphitheatres —a fitting nod to the political spectacle housed within. After the project was greenlit following an international contest in 1991, work began in May 1995. Commissioned by the Société d’Aménagement et d’Équipement de la Région de Strasbourg on behalf of the Urban Community of Strasbourg , the site became one of the largest construction projects in Europe for the decade, at one point featuring up to twelve tower cranes simultaneously piercing the skyline. The grand inauguration took place on 14 December 1999, officiated by then French President Jacques Chirac and Parliament President Nicole Fontaine . In the dry lexicon of internal EP documents, the building is simply known as “LOW.” A fitting acronym.

Tower

The 60-meter high tower is a statement piece, intentionally left unfinished on one side to carry a heavy payload of symbolism. The story often told is that it was oriented eastwards, a gesture toward an Eastern Europe that, at the time of the building’s completion, had not yet joined the EU. A lovely thought, except the open side of the tower actually faces west. A minor detail. In 2010, this architectural flourish caught the eye of American conservative commentator Glenn Beck , who proposed that the tower’s design was a conscious echo of the Vienna painting of the Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder . When your symbolism is that ambiguous, you invite all sorts of interpretations.

Agora

On 14 January 2009, the European Parliament, in a moment of reflection, decided to name the courtyard inside the tower after Bronisław Geremek , a recently deceased member from Poland. It was christened the “Bronisław Geremek Agora” (Agora Bronisław Geremek), and officially inaugurated on 21 April 2009.

Since 2004, the center of this Agora has been occupied by a glass sculpture called “United Earth ,” created by artist Tomasz Urbanowicz . The piece is said to reference the ideals of openness and the ongoing expansion of the European Union. The glass artifact received the blessing of Architecture-Studio and was formally presented as a gift from the City of Wrocław , an event attended by Josep Borrell , who was the President of the European Parliament at the time.

Hemicycle

Inside, the Members of European Parliament sit in a hemicycle , arranged according to their political affiliations, generally from left to right. The non-attached members are relegated to the back and right of the chamber, the political equivalent of the kids’ table. Every desk is a miniature command center, equipped with a microphone, headphones for interpretation (a necessity in this multilingual environment), and electronic voting equipment. The leaders of the political groups occupy the front benches at the center, and dead center is a podium for guest speakers to address the assembly.

The rest of the circular chamber is dominated by a raised area where the President and their staff preside over the proceedings. Behind them, an EU flag is fixed to the wall, flanked by rows of national flags.

Interpretation booths are tucked away behind and along the sides of the chamber, a testament to the linguistic gymnastics required to run this operation. Public galleries are perched above, ringing the entire perimeter for a panopticon-style viewing experience. Additional benches are squeezed between the raised presidential area and the MEPs, occupied by the council on the far left and the commission on the far right. The chamber’s design is aggressively modern, with walls composed entirely of lights and seas of large blue chairs for the MEPs.

Ceiling collapse

On 7 August 2008, the building itself appeared to offer a critique. Approximately 10% of the ceiling in the plenary chamber collapsed. By sheer luck, no one was injured, as Parliament was in its summer recess. A number of seats, however, were not so fortunate. The first section of the ceiling gave way at 18:00 CET, followed by a second part at 22:36 CET. With no reports of extreme weather and the structure being relatively new, the immediate suspect was a defect in the false ceiling.

The President’s office later confirmed that a third of the ceiling had been affected, stating that “The preliminary results have revealed that the partial collapse of the ceiling resulted from the breakage of parts holding the suspended ceiling that connects it with the actual structure of the ceiling.”

Repair work commenced immediately, but it was soon clear the chamber wouldn’t be ready for the next session. The sitting scheduled for September 1st was hastily moved to the Brussels hemicycle . The plan was to return to Strasbourg for the session on September 22nd, but safety inspections dragged on, forcing that session to remain in Brussels as well. This turn of events was met with unconcealed delight by those who oppose the Strasbourg seat, and with mockery from eurosceptics. Some of the latter group memorably wore hard hats to the first plenary in Brussels after the incident, noting that had Parliament been in session, the collapsing debris would have landed directly on the eurosceptic parties.

As if to prove that structural integrity issues are an equal-opportunity problem, in August 2012, the Paul-Henri Spaak building in Brussels, which houses their hemicycle, was also found to be defective. Cracks in the ceiling support beams prompted a security closure for at least six months, according to an estimate from the Parliament administration on 9 October 2012. This, in turn, threw the Parliament’s timetable into disarray. By early December 2012, the damage was revealed to be worse than initially thought, with the closure expected to last “until November 2013”. All “mini plenary” meetings in Brussels were scrapped, a decision that was met with “fury” by some MEPs. As of December 2012, with the European Parliament “having trouble” finding a company to perform the repairs, it seemed likely the Brussels hemicycle might not reopen until 2014. An update is probably needed .

Criticism

The Louise Weiss building has not been without its detractors, who criticize its bewilderingly complex interior. As one observer noted, “It is apparently transparent but almost impossible to navigate; there are bridges between different levels, but you cannot quite work out where they lead”.

When it first opened, it was condemned by some as “shabby, dark, difficult to navigate.” Its telecommunications systems and lifts were plagued by technical glitches. The situation was so dire that Parliament President Nicole Fontaine reportedly chose to climb nine flights of stairs to her office rather than risk entrapment in the notoriously unreliable lifts. In 2002, the building’s water supply suffered an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease , a direct consequence of the system’s infrequent use for most of the year. In 2008, of course, the plenary chamber ceiling collapsed. The building, it seems, has a personality. A difficult one.

Secondary buildings

Across the river from the Louise Weiss are four secondary buildings, completing the campus. Most follow the uninspired naming convention of Immeuble du Parlement Européen (IPE) 1, 2, and 3. The most recent addition, the Immeuble Václav Havel, has yet to be officially designated IPE 5 as of July 2017. Buildings 1 and 2 are a single complex hugging the riverbank, while 3 and “5” are set further inland, connected by a glass footbridge. The site was previously home to the swimming pool of the Société des nageurs strasbourgeois (SNS), built in 1952 and demolished in 1978 to make way for this administrative sprawl.

The Winston Churchill building (IPE 1) is on Avenue du Président Schuman and houses administration and support facilities. The Salvador de Madariaga building (IPE 2), along Quai du Bassin de l’Ill, is its neighbor. These two structures, designed by municipal architect François Sauer with assistance from Jean-Paul Friedmann, form a single 58,400m² complex. Built for 81 million euros and inaugurated in 1980, they embody a post-modern style characterized by convoluted, serpentine architecture and glazed facades. The Salvador de Madariaga building also hosts the other EU body for which Strasbourg is the official seat: the European Ombudsman .

These buildings became the center of a controversy regarding overpayment of rent, a dispute that was finally settled when the Parliament purchased them outright in 2006.

In October 2007, it was discovered that the buildings contained more asbestos than previously thought. While the amount was not deemed a public health risk and was confined to specific areas, it was yet another headache. The previous owner may be on the hook for its removal. This wasn’t the first health scare; as mentioned, the bacteria causing Legionnaires’ disease had been found in the water system, a direct result of the complex being used for only four months a year.

The Pierre Pflimlin building (IPE 3) is a heart-shaped, relatively low structure inaugurated in 1991 as a press and media center. Built for 38 million euros, it was officially named after the former President of the European Parliament on 6 July 2007. At 21,000 m², it is the smallest of the buildings and now primarily houses translation staff.

The Václav Havel building was inaugurated on 5 July 2017 by EP President Antonio Tajani and French Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau . Originally opened in 1954, the building belonged to the Council of Europe until 2007. The European Parliament purchased it in 2012, then completely deconstructed and rebuilt it.

The Simone Veil building was inaugurated on 21 November 2023 by French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and EP President Roberta Metsola . It stands opposite the Louise Weiss building and was originally built as a private office building named “Osmose.” Inaugurated in 2021, it stood empty until it was bought by the French state and rented to the European Parliament for a modest €700,000 per year.

Former buildings

The current sprawling complex exists because of the enlargement of the European Union in 1995 and the anticipated expansion in 2004. With new members came the need for a larger hemicycle and more offices for MEPs . Before all this, the Parliament shared facilities with the Council of Europe at their headquarters, the Palace of Europe . That hemicycle was inaugurated on 28 January 1977, for the dual use of the Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe .

This room-sharing arrangement occasionally caused confusion for television audiences, who were left to guess which institution was in session. The confusion was compounded by the fact that both the EU and the Council of Europe use the same flag , although they did have their own distinct emblems.

Before the Palace of Europe was constructed in 1977, the two institutions shared the Maison de l’Europe (“House of Europe”) from 1958. The Maison was a provisional concrete building of purely functional architecture, inaugurated in 1950. It once stood where a lawn now leads up to the Palace of Europe, a ghost of a simpler, less architecturally ambitious time.