There was a time when European Union summit meetings were held all across the bloc. The meetings used to shift all around the continent with meetings being held in Copenhagen, Athens, Nice, Rome and many others.

 But then, the issue was formalised. It was deemed to be too expensive and too beurocratic and Brussels’ Justus Lispius building became a fixture. But there are still massive money wastage issues and this is due to the fact that the European Parliament shifts between Brussels and Strasbourg. Most of the EP’s working meetings and plenary sessions are held in Brussels, but France continues to fight for its right to hold meetings in Strasbourg – four days a month  – on the border with Germany.

This involves moving staff, documents and pretty much everything from stationary to translators – only to them promptly shift them back to Brussels – a 400 kilometre trip.

Foremost among those who are calling for an end to the charade is Edward McMillan-Scott, a British Liberal Democrat.

"If European leaders are serious about efficiency and fighting waste — especially within the European institutions — then the European Parliament's single-seat is a point of departure," he and three other European lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Brussels daily De Standaard. "European citizens, and more than half of the European Parliament, demand an end to that traveling circus."

Mc Millan-Scott also makes the argument that the road show is also harmful to the environment – causing 133,000 tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere. The travelling costs EU taxpayers some €180 million a year. When one considers that Malta’s EU allocation budget for 2014-2020 has so far been set at €680 million, then it becomes quite clear that the EU is spending more on moving papers every year, than it is doing on one of its member states. There is absolutely no justification for doing so.

The reason why the roadshow is still being tolerated – especially in a climate of austerity – is because France demands it. Successive French governments have refused to abandon their city on the Rhine to keep the EU assembly in Brussels.

Brussels is already home to the European Commission, European Council President Herman van Rompuy, scores of think tanks and embassies. French President Francis Hollande reiterated that changing the EU treaty so the parliament can just stay in Brussels all the time wouldn't happen.

Like his predecessors, Hollande holds that the Parliament's fate was sealed in a 1992 negotiation that assigned homes to two dozen EU institutions in various cities, including Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Parma, Italy. McMillan-Scott and others complain that only six EU capitals have air connections to Strasbourg, that Strasbourg hotels raise their rates "by an average of 100% during plenary weeks" and that the assembly building there is a safety hazard. He is right, but it goes beyond, even in trying to secure flight tickets to attend Tonio Borg’s approval hearing – it would have cost over €1,000 to get there from Malta.

There is an overwhelming increase in support within the parliamentary assembly for a permanent home in Brussels. On 23 October, 75 % of assembly members adopted a resolution asking EU governments to resolve the matter before summertime. Also, an online petition has been signed by 1.27 million Europeans. It is high time that France is told to get off its high horse and agree to abolish the Strasbourg sittings. In this economic climate of hardship for citizens, there is just no justification whatsoever.