The European Union's "travelling circus", whereby the European Parliament sits in both Brussels and Strasbourg, produces at least 190,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, a report said on Friday, according to Reuters. The survey, by British-based environmental research organisation Climate Care, is set to resurrect a deep political row over the two-city arrangement, which costs EU taxpayers 200 million euros ($265 million) a year in travel expenses. The report is based on emissions of the greenhouse gas created by journeys via plane, train or car by parliament staff, journalists and others visiting the Strasbourg assembly. Trips made by the 732 members of parliament are not included. "So actually the figure is really much higher," conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris told Reuters. Heaton-Harris is a founding member of Campaign for Parliament Reform (CPR), which commissioned the report. CPR is composed of more than 100 members of the legislature who are lobbying for the assembly to be based only in Brussels. Over one million people to date from across the 25-member bloc have signed a petition to end the travelling. "It now seems that having two seats of parliament is not only costing the taxpayer millions, it is also causing more disturbing untold damage to the environment," Heaton-Harris said. According to the survey, energy costs for the parliamentary buildings in Strasbourg last year came to about 2.4 million euros ($3.18 million) for electricity and 360,000 euros for gas. Under a 1992 EU treaty, the assembly must hold at least 12 four-day plenary sessions a year in Strasbourg. The assembly holds shorter sessions and most committee meetings in Brussels.
