Tories: 'To the casual observer there is nothing wrong with the building'

MEPs would move out temporarily during the as yet un-costed work

The European Parliament is planning a major refurbishment to improve the comfort of MEPs and give them more space.

Officials claim extensive work is needed on their main building in Brussels as it is in a state of ‘dilapidation’ despite it being only 22 years old.

They also say it needs to be much bigger in size so that the 751 MEPs have got more offices to accommodate their growing numbers of staff.

The European Parliament is planning a major refurbishment to improve the comfort of MEPs and give them more space

Plans for the project - presented to MEPs by the Parliament’s Secretary General Klaus Welle - suggest they would temporarily move out while the as yet un-costed work is carried out.

As well as the renovation, an extra 750 office spaces would be created so every MEP can have three offices each ‘at the latest from 2019’.

The proposal document, seen by the Mail, says one of the goals is to provide MEPs with ‘optimum working conditions’ in ‘modern buildings which offer a high degree of energy performance and guarantee their safety, comfort and wellbeing’.

It is claimed the benefits of the alterations would include ‘cutting waiting times for lifts’ and giving them furniture that better ‘meets the needs of the new working environment’.

The Paul Henri Spaak building, which houses the Parliament’s debating chamber, was built at a cost of more than a billion euros in 1993 and is known locally as ‘Caprice des Dieux’, or ‘whim of the gods’.

It is one of three ‘seats’ of the European Parliament. There is also a chamber in Luxembourg – which has not been used by MEPs since 1981 – as well as a complex in Strasbourg, that is unused for more than 300 days a year.

It is claimed the benefits of the alterations would include ‘cutting waiting times for lifts’ and giving them furniture that better ‘meets the needs of the new working environment’

Every month, in what is described as a ‘travelling circus’, a fleet of lorries and specially chartered trains are used to transport the MEPs, their assistants and all their paper work to the French base for a four-day sitting, at a cost of 200million euros a year.

Mr Welle presented his plans for the Brussels building earlier this month at a meeting of senior MEPs, who will now decide whether to approve them.

The European Parliament was expensive to build and extortionate to renovate. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall

In his report, he wrote: ‘In 2019 the lifespan of the Spaak building comes to an end. The technical studies conducted during the last parliamentary term showed that a building of this kind, constructed using the materials available and in accordance with the constraints which applied at the time, has an average useful life of 20 years, after which in-depth renovation is needed if the building is to continue to meet technical, economic and political requirements.’

He added: ‘Parliament is currently being forced to deal, on a daily basis, with the problems linked to the building’s general state of dilapidation and its construction defects (e.g. the wooden ceiling frame in the Chamber, water leaks, break down of heating systems).’

In 2012, the chamber, known as the ‘hemicycle’ was closed for repair works after cracks were found in the wooden roof beams.

Mr Welle said as part of the increase in the number of office spaces the Parliament has in surrounding buildings, he wants to keep 200 as a ‘strategic reserve’ in case countries such as Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia join the EU.

Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: ‘A.E. Housman's quip that “The house of delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in” isn’t quite correct.

‘The European Parliament was expensive to build and extortionate to renovate. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.’

Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall said the European Parliament was 'expensive to build and extortionate to renovate'

Ashley Fox, leader of the Tory group in the European Parliament, said: 'The Houses of Parliament in London are 150 years old and we are only now having a serious debate about a major refurbishment.

'The European version has been here only 20 years or so but someone has decided it is no longer up to the job.

'To the casual observer there is nothing wrong with the building, so I hope the officials are not just spending money because they can.'

A European Parliament spokesman said the Paul Henri Spaak building was ‘in need of extensive repairs’ but said the report was ‘preliminary ideas for this renovation’.

She added: ‘No decisions have been taken one way or another. The proposals are being studied.’