Status
The Commission employs 25,000 people and the Parliament employs about 6000 people. Because of this concentration, Brussels is a preferred location for any move towards a single seat for Parliament. Despite it not formally being the "capital" of the EU, some commentators see the fact that Brussels enticed an increasing number of Parliament's sessions to the city, in addition to the main seats of the other two main political institutions, as making Brussels the de facto capital of the EU. Brussels is frequently labelled as the 'capital' of the EU, particularly in publications by local authorities, the Commission and press. Indeed, Brussels interprets the 1992 agreement on seats (details below) as declaring Brussels as the capital.
There are two further cities hosting major institutions, Luxembourg (judicial and second seats) and Strasbourg (Parliament's main seat). Authorities in Strasbourg and organisations based there also refer to Strasbourg as the "capital" of Europe and Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg are also referred to as the joint capitals of Europe. In 2010, Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, while speaking to the European Parliament, stated that Brussels, like Washington D.C. had its own claim to be capital of the free world.
Read more about this topic: Brussels And The European Union
Famous quotes containing the word status:
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Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)
“A genuine Left doesn’t consider anyone’s suffering irrelevant or titillating; nor does it function as a microcosm of capitalist economy, with men competing for power and status at the top, and women doing all the work at the bottom.... Goodbye to all that.”
—Robin Morgan (b. 1941)
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)