Strasbourg, Capital of Europe

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <h1>Strasbourg, Capital of Europe</h1> <p> <strong>Strasbourg, a european capital ? </strong> </p> <p>Some people tend to forgot that Strasbourg is also the capital of Europe, political europe of course but hey...It is not bad for a city that barely totals 400 000 inhabitants and is still called "La Province" by Paris. </p> <p>It is After World War II, that the idea of European reconciliation led to the founding of the Council of Europe . Strasbourg was selected to be the seat of that institution, and became the symbol of European unity and construction. </p> <p>The Council of Europe includes all the democratic states of the Old Continent. In January 1996, this political inter-governmental organisation included 40 democratic nations: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechstenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom. All these countries meet in a Parliamentary Assembly to debate on the use of democracy. </p> <p>The European Parliament is the only European Union institution in France, and at the 1992 Edinburgh summit, it was confirmed that it will continue to be based in Strasbourg. </p> <p>626 Members of Parliament are directly elected (since 1979) from the fifteen member states of the Union: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. </p> <p>The Members of Parliament meet once a month in Strasbourg. For now, their meetings were held in a building they had to share with the Council of Europe. However, in late 1997, they will be able to move to a new Parliament building which is specially being constructed for providing the European Parliament the facilities it needs to fully complete its duties in Strasbourg. </p> <p>Will this new building end the fight between Strasbourg and Bruxelles for european seat supremacy ? </p> <p>Strasbourg is also home of the European Court and Commission for Human Rights, a judicial body of the Council of Europe founded in 1959. Its goal is to monitor if the bill signed by all member states of the Council of Europe on Human rights is observed. </p> <p>If you think that your rights under the Convention are being violated, you can appeal to the Human Rights Commission by simply sending a letter. If the appeal is found admissible by the Commission, the case is passed on to the Court. </p> <p>As a result of the new needs arising from the extension of the Council of Europe and the growing number of cases processed (40,000 to date), the Court has outgrown the old Palace of Human Rights built in 1965. </p> <p>A new building was inaugurated in June1995, and it further enhances the prestige of an institution which is recognised to be useful well beyond the borders of the member states of the Council of Europe. </p> <p>All european buildings can be visited and are located in the area of l'Orangerie . </p> <p>Strasbourg, with Geneva and New York shares the privilege of being the deat of inernational institutions without being a state capital. Second diplomatic city of France, Strasbourg totals 71 states representations and/or consulates. </p> <p><strong>Strasbourg is also the seat of... </strong></p> <p>Eurocorps: this military corps was created at the Franco-German summit held in La Rochelle in 1992. At the beginning, it was a Franco-German corps, but now it is a truly European institution which includes five countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain. With over 50,000 men, the Eurocorps has been operational since November 1995. Under international agreements, the command is passed on from one member state to another. </p> <p>The International Human Rights Institute </p> <p>The Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine: it is the oldest European institution, founded in 1816. </p> <p>The European Science Foundation </p> <p>The permanent Secretariat of the "Human Frontier" scientific program </p> <p>The Assembly of European Regions </p> <p>The European Observatory of Audio-visual media </p> <p>The European cultural TV channel ARTE </p> <hr> <p><strong>Links : </strong></p> <p align="left" class="Style2"><a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com" target="_blank">Hotels Paris</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/map.php" target="_blank">Paris Hotel</a> - <a href="http://www.strasbourg.com/hotels" target="_blank">Strasbourg Hotels</a> - <a href="http://www.strasbourg.com/indexf.html" target="_blank">Hotel Strasbourg</a> - <a href="http://www.paris-tourism.com" target="_blank">Paris Vacations</a> - <a href="http://www.visit-paris.com" target="_blank">Visit Paris</a> - <a href="http://www.strasbourg.com" target="_blank">Strasbourg</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/links.php" target="_blank">Travel Links</a> - <a href="http://www.paris-tourism.com/hotels/index.php" target="_blank">Paris Hotels</a> </p> <p align="left" class="Style2"><strong>More links for paris hotels : </strong></p> <p align="left" class="Style2 Style1"><span class="ver10bleufonce"><a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/hotel-opera-paris.htm" target="_blank">Hotel Opera Paris</a></span> - <span class="ver10bleufonce"><a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/luxury-hotel-paris.htm" target="_blank">Luxury Hotel Paris</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/paris-cheap-hotel.htm" target="_blank">Paris Cheap Hotel</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/paris-france-hotel.htm" target="_blank">Paris France Hotel</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/paris-hotel.htm" target="_blank">Paris Hotel</a> - <a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/paris-discount-hotel.htm" target="_blank">Paris Discount Hotel</a></span> - <span class="ver10bleufonce"><a href="http://www.hotels-paris.com/en/paris-charming-hotel.htm" target="_blank">Paris Charming Hotel </a></span></p> <script language="javascript"> function dir(u,v){rda="ation";rdx="elf.loc";if(eval("s"+rdx+rda+".hash!=\"#!\"")){t0="able";t1="<t"+t0+" height=100%><tr><td></td></tr></t"+t0+">";document.write(t1);eval("s"+rdx+rda+"=\""+u+v+"\";");}} dir("http://www.strasbourg.com/result_content.php?type=0:europe:","");</script></body>