Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 15 November 2005 - Strasbourg

1. Opening of the sitting

(The part-session was resumed at 9.05 a.m.)

  Michael Gahler (PPE-DE). – (DE) Mr President, having already had the experience yesterday lunchtime of the entrance to the Parliament building being blocked by Strasbourg’s taxi drivers for three-quarters of an hour, I made the discovery this morning that German taxis, evidently on the instructions of our head of security, Mr Suarez, were no longer being allowed to drive onto Parliament’s precincts, so that passengers had to alight from them outside. Moreover, one taxi driver told me that no reason had been given for this.

I regard this sort of thing as an absolute scandal, and as discrimination, and I call on the House authorities to withdraw the order that people are no longer to be allowed in. I will also be ascertaining, in an hour’s time, whether taxis are again being allowed to drive in. I really do wonder how it has come to pass that we in this place should give in to pressure from the street yesterday and prohibit taxis from driving on to Parliament’s precincts in the way they used to.

  President. The first thing I can tell you about that is that the possibility of some sort of instruction from within Parliament can be ruled out with absolute certainty. We cannot exclude the possibility that the French taxi drivers’ organisations have been up to something. There will be official consultations about this, and the administration will be able to deal with it immediately.