Institutional seats of the European Union the ECSC (or be generously compensated); France supported Strasbourg, and Italy continued to promote Milan. However, it was decided that the Common Assembly, which became the Parliament, should instead be based in Strasbourg—the Council of Europe (CoE) was already based there, in the House of Europe. The chamber of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly could also serve the Common Assembly, and they did so until 1999, when a new complex of buildings was built across the river from the Palace. The creation in 1957 of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) created new
Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict the crossborder flower festival on both banks of the Rhine held in Strasbourg and Kehl in the spring 2004. Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries, during and after his election campaign in 2007, proposed the strengthening of the district in order to maintain the presence of the European Parliament in the city (see Location of European Union institutions) and making it more autonomous and akin to a European capital territory. However the Ortenaukreis communities have been less enthusiastic about the Eurodistrict project. In late January 2010 the German State definitely greenlighted the entity and the inaugural session of the Eurodistrict's Council