European Parliament in Luxembourg

The European Parliament's presence in Kirchberg, Luxembourg currently consists of the Parliament's secretariat, although the Parliament had held plenary sessions in the city for a brief period.

The provisional arrangement was reiterated on 8 April 1965 with the Decision on the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities. This was following the Merger Treaty, which combined the executives of the three Communities into a single institutional structure. However with the merged executives, the Commission and most departments were grouped together in Brussels, rather than Luxembourg. To compensate Luxembourg for the loss, the agreement granted a city the right to host a number bodies, including the Secretariat of the Assembly (now of the Parliament).^[1]

Despite the 1965 agreement however, the Parliament's seat was a source of contention. Wishing to be closer to the activities in Brussels and Luxembourg, a few plenary sessions were held by the Parliament between 1967 and 1981 in Luxembourg instead of Strasbourg – against the wishes of France and in 1981 it returned to holding sessions entirely in Strasbourg.^[1]

Parliament's buildings in Kirchberg*

* Its most notable features are various European Union institutions, including the European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors, parts of the European Commission, the Secretariat of the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank and the European School of Luxembourg, which are all located in the western part.