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**Rurcextedutty** · 09-21-2006, 09:01 PM

If you want symbolism: Brussels straddles the border between the Romanic peoples and the Germanic peoples of Europe. It's also located between Europe's 3 protagonists, Germany, France and the UK, without being part of any. It's a neutral city, like Belgium historically was a neutral country.
Brussels is the HQ of both the European Commission as well as the European Council, which are the EU's most important institutions. Most the EU's officials are employed in the city (over 20,000 people), MEP's spend most of their time there (3 weeks out of 4), and journalists who cover the EU are based there (to the point the EP even felt compelled to subsidize journalists to join them on their trip to Strasbourg). For those reasons Brussels is already widely seen as the de facto capital of the EU.
Finally Brussels also houses the HQ of the NATO is, and is consistently touted as Europe's 4th best city for doing business (after London, Paris and Frankfurt).

In other words: it's not out of arbitrariness why the petition's exponents speak of ceasing the monthly move to Strasbourg rather than the reverse.

09-21-2006, 09:01 PM	#16
Rurcextedutty Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 434 Senior Member	If you want symbolism: Brussels straddles the border between the Romanic peoples and the Germanic peoples of Europe. It's also located between Europe's 3 protagonists, Germany, France and the UK, without being part of any. It's a neutral city, like Belgium historically was a neutral country. Brussels is the HQ of both the European Commission as well as the European Council, which are the EU's most important institutions. Most the EU's officials are employed in the city (over 20,000 people), MEP's spend most of their time there (3 weeks out of 4), and journalists who cover the EU are based there (to the point the EP even felt compelled to subsidize journalists to join them on their trip to Strasbourg). For those reasons Brussels is already widely seen as the de facto capital of the EU. Finally Brussels also houses the HQ of the NATO is, and is consistently touted as Europe's 4th best city for doing business (after London, Paris and Frankfurt). In other words: it's not out of arbitrariness why the petition's exponents speak of ceasing the monthly move to Strasbourg rather than the reverse.
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