The European Parliament’s new EUR 420-million Strasbourg headquarters opened its doors

Date: 22/07/1999

this week to a new intake of MEPs and pages of appalling publicity. Euro MPs protested that their offices were too small to house aides, looked irate and puzzled when the interpretation headphones failed to work, the lifts broke down and journalists complained that phones had not been installed. Newly elected Parliament President Nicole Fontaine said she wished the architects of the steel and glass construction had spent more time on interior design.