The European Parliament was overruled by the highest EU court today over its attempt to reduce the number of sessions it holds in the French city of Strasbourg.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said the proposed change went against EU treaties and it was up to national governments, not the parliament, to make such decisions.
EU treaties oblige the parliament to hold 12 plenary sessions a year in Strasbourg, 430 kilometres (270 miles) from Brussels, which is home to the European Commission, the EU executive.
The Strasbourg seat costs nearly 200 million euros ($260 million) a year in travel and running costs, and the parliament decided to squeeze two Strasbourg sessions together in 2012 and 2013, effectively reducing the annual totals to 11 sessions.
France challenged this change because it regarded it as a threat to the status of Strasbourg, where France wants to keep a major EU institution and the business that goes with it.
The court's ruling on the proposed change is a blow to the parliament's authority because it stresses the primacy of national governments in such matters.
"It is not for the parliament or the court to remedy that situation," the ECJ said in a statement.
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