Where is the European Parliament located?

Although most people immediately associate the European Parliament with Brussels, it is in fact the French city of Strasbourg that is the European Parliament’s official home. In addition, part of Parliament’s administration is located in Luxembourg . Parliament thus divides its work between no fewer than three cities. 

Because Strasbourg is Parliament’s official home, 12 monthly plenary sessions lasting one week each are held there, as are the meetings on the EU’s budget. Other plenary sessions are held in Brussels , where Parliament’s committee meetings and group meetings also take place.

It costs a lot of money and is inconvenient for the Members to travel between Strasbourg and Brussels each month. However, it is not easy to simply change this decision. According to the EC Treaty, the home of the EU’s institutions shall be adopted by agreement among the EU Member States, and the decision on the home of the European Parliament is now laid down in a protocol which was adopted in connection with the Treaty of Amsterdam. It would therefore require a Treaty amendment to change Parliament’s monthly changes of address. 

The question of the location of the EU’s institutions is a sensitive political issue owing to the prestige and, not least, economic interests which are associated with having an EU institution located in a country.