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In 1992, the governments of the European Union (EU) Member States adopted a decision on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities, often known as the Edinburgh Decision. Accordingly, the seBriefing - Agreeing the EU’s annual budget: Can Parliament vote in Strasbourg or Brussels? - 18-11-2019
In 1992, the governments of the European Union (EU) Member States adopted a decision on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities, often known as the Edinburgh Decision. Accordingly, the seat of the European Parliament was established in Strasbourg, where 12 monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session, were to be held, whilst additional plenary sessions were to be held in Brussels. The Edinburgh Decision was annexed as a Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam, and this wording has remained unchanged in the Protocol (No 6) now attached to the Treaty of Lisbon. In consequence, it is been an act of primary law since 1997, with the protocol on an equal legal footing with other provisions of the Treaties. Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) lays down the procedure for adopting the annual EU budget in a special legislative procedure, together with a detailed calendar. The latter provides that Parliament votes on the budget in a plenary session up to three times: firstly within 42 days of receiving the Council's amendments to the Commission proposal; secondly within 14 days of receiving a compromise text elaborated by the Conciliation Committee; and thirdly – if the Council rejects the text of the Conciliation Committee – within 14 days of the date of Council's rejection. Tension exists between the Protocol provision that 'the budget session' is to be held in Strasbourg, and the calendar set out in Article 314 TFEU. In particular, the restrictions of the Article 314 calendar may not always allow a vote on the budget during 'Strasbourg sessions'. This was the case, for instance, in 2016: Parliament held the first budgetary debate and vote in Strasbourg, but the second (on the Conciliation Committee text) took place in Brussels. France took the Parliament to the Court of Justice of the EU, claiming that voting on the final budget in Brussels is a violation of Protocol No 6. However, the Court rejected the French claim and ruled that it was sufficient for the Parliament's initial legislative resolution to have been voted in Strasbourg. Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP Read more