MEPs freeze their budget and cut €180m Strasbourg trips

Members of the European Parliament have voted to freeze their budget for the next two years and end the monthly trip to Strasbourg which costs €180m per annum.

However, despite an overwhelming vote in favour of keeping the parliament permanently in Brussels, member states, and France in particular, said ‘non’.

Seán Kelly, the Ireland South MEP, said they should employ an external auditor to produce a report on the entire costs of the parliament, its €1.6bn budget and 6,000 staff.