French Republic v European Parliament.
Date: 2012-12-13
20. In that regard, it is sufficient to note that, in accordance with settled case-law, the question whether the contested votes relate exclusively to the internal organisation of the Parliament or whether they produce legal effects vis-à-vis third parties is an issue inseparably associated with consideration of the content of those votes and that, in consequence, it is necessary to consider the merits of the actions (Case 230/81 Luxembourg  v Parliament  [1983] ECR 255, paragraph 30; Joined Cases 358/85 and 51/86 France  v Parliament [1988] ECR 4821, paragraph 15; and Joined Cases C-213/88 and C-39/89 Luxembourg  v Parliament  [1991] ECR I-5643, paragraph 16).
Substance
Arguments of the parties
38. In relation to the competence of the Member States to determine the location of the Parliament’s seat, the Court has held that, given a plurality of working places, the exercise of that competence involved not only the obligation to determine the location of the seat of the Parliament but also the implied power to give precision to that term by indicating the activities which must take place there (see the judgment in France v Parliament , paragraph 24).
39. In that regard, the Court has held that the intention of the Member States was to make provision for the seat of the Parliament, in Strasbourg, to be the principal place where it meets in ordinary plenary sitting, and to that end to specify the mandatory number of part-sessions which must be held there, and for the Parliament to exercise its budgetary powers in plenary sitting during one of the ordinary plenary part-sessions held at the seat of the institution (see the judgment in France  v Parliament , paragraphs 25 and 28).
40. In the light of those considerations, the Court concluded that the Edinburgh Decision must be interpreted as defining the seat of the Parliament as the place where 12 ordinary plenary part-sessions must take place on a regular basis, including those during which the Parliament is to exercise the budgetary powers conferred upon it by the Treaty. By the same token, the Court held that additional plenary part-sessions cannot be scheduled for any other place of work unless the Parliament holds the 12 ordinary plenary part-sessions in Strasbourg, where it has its seat (see the judgment in France  v Parliament , paragraph 29).
41. In addition, the Court held that, by so defining the Parliament’s seat, the Member States have not encroached upon the power of the Parliament to determine its own internal organisation. Whilst the Parliament is authorised, under that power of internal organisation, to take appropriate measures to ensure the proper functioning and conduct of its proceedings, its decisions in that regard must respect the competence of the Member States to determine the seat of the institutions (see the judgment in France  v Parliament , paragraphs 30 and 31).
42. However, the Member States have the duty, in exercising their competence to determine the seat of the institutions, to respect the Parliament’s power to determine its own internal organisation and to ensure that such decisions do not stand in the way of the proper functioning of that institution. In that regard, the Court has held that the constraints imposed on the Parliament by the Edinburgh Decision are inherent in the need to determine its seat while maintaining several places of work for the institution, and do not conflict with the practice generally followed by the Parliament (see the judgment in France  v Parliament , paragraph 32 and the case-law cited).
57. Second, it is apparent from paragraph 29 of the judgment in France  v Parliament  that the seat of the Parliament is the place where ‘12 ordinary plenary part-sessions’ of that institution must take place on a regular basis, and that those 12 part-sessions must be distinguished from the ‘additional plenary part-sessions’ which cannot be scheduled unless the Parliament actually holds the 12 ordinary plenary part-sessions.
66. The importance of the budget session is highlighted by the fact that the protocols concerning the seats of the institutions expressly refer to that session. As is apparent from paragraph 28 of the judgment in France  v Parliament , in specifying that the budget session is to be held in Strasbourg, the Governments of the Member States intended the Parliament to exercise its budgetary powers in plenary sitting during one of the ordinary plenary part-sessions held at the seat of the institution.
68. Consequently, the exercise by the Parliament of its budgetary powers in plenary sitting constitutes, as the Parliament recognises, a fundamental event in the democratic life of the European Union and must therefore be carried out with all the attention, rigour and commitment which such a responsibility demands. The exercise of that power requires, inter alia, a public debate in plenary sitting enabling the citizens of the European Union to acquaint themselves with the various political orientations expressed and, as a result, to form a political opinion on the European Union’s actions.