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Significant savings could be made in EU operations

euEU operations for long have been divided between Brussels and Strasbourg, but a fresh report has claimed that €1bn could be saved in just four years if the use of Strasbourg were ended.

Eliminating the European Parliament’s Strasbourg seat would result in a one-off saving of €616m and annual savings of €114m, says the European Court of Auditors.

It went on to say that limiting the third seat in Luxembourg would result in further savings of €16m every year on top of one-off cut of as much as €476m.

“Two thirds of MEPs consistently want one seat in Brussels,” the report claims.

While there are fewer than 100 staff in Strasbourg, Brussels has 4,100.

The European Court of Auditors is the EU’s financial watchdog. It was commissioned by the Parliament to conduct the assessment following calls for change.

Campaigners welcomed the study as a "credible, independent, expert source" to confirm the savings to be had from a single seat. They point out that more than one million EU citizens have signed a petition calling for the parliament to have a single seat.

But UKIP transport spokesman Jill Seymour doubted the reform would be made because France could veto it.