European institutions in Strasbourg European institutions in Strasbourg There are a range of European institutions in Strasbourg (France), the oldest of which dates back to 1815. In all, there are more than twenty different institutions based in the Alsatian city. The European Quarter is spread over an area covering the districts of Wacken, Orangerie and Robertsau in the north-west of the city and comprising the intersection of the River Ill and the Marne-Rhine Canal. The first specific European building in the area was the Council of Europe's House of Europe in 1949, with the Rhine Commission being located towards the centre of the city.
Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 1 September was moved to the Brussels hemicycle. Parliament was expected to move back to Strasbourg for the session starting on 22 September but had to remain in Brussels for that session as well as safety inspections dragged on. The event was greeted with joy by those who oppose the Parliament's presence in Strasbourg, and mocked by eurosceptics who wore hard hats to the first plenary in Brussels after the incident (if Parliament had been sitting at the time, the collapsing ceiling would have hit members of the eurosceptic parties). In August 2012, the Paul-Henri Spaak building in Brussels