European Parliament
Robert Goebbels (PSE ),
in writing. – (FR)
I voted in favour of discharge, but I abstained on the resolution because the Committee on Budgetary Control insists on mixing issues that are real with those that are not. Parliament cannot change a seat established by treaty simply by adopting a resolution.
The Committee on Budgetary Control has got it all wrong on the question of the rents paid and the purchase price of the buildings in Strasbourg. In a market economy, it is impossible to speak of a fair rent because all rents and all purchase prices are negotiated between the owner and the lessee or the purchaser. Even if the way Strasbourg behaved may be considered discourteous, there was no illegality or misappropriation. That is precisely what some Members and some of the media have claimed, obviously without a shadow of evidence. I wish to disassociate myself from these unsavoury individuals.

