Languages of the European Union which is understood by 51% of all adults, while German is the most widely used mother tongue, spoken by 18%. All 24 official languages of the EU are accepted as working languages, but in practice only two – English and French – are in wide general use and of these English is the more commonly used. French is an official language in all three of the cities that are political centres of the Union: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France) and Luxembourg City (Luxembourg). , the official languages of the European Union, as stipulated in the latest amendment of "Regulation No 1
Institutional seats of the European Union which reduce costs. Some commentators further underline that night-life in Strasbourg is comparatively lacklustre and that MEPs who'd wish to relax after a long and hard working day aren't offered many opportunities to do so. The position of Strasbourg suffered a minor blow in 2006, when allegations surfaced over charges by the city of Strasbourg on buildings the Parliament was renting. The controversy died down when the European Parliament decided to officially buy the buildings on 24 October 2006. In May 2006, an online petition, oneseat.eu, was started by MEP Cecilia Malmström calling for a single seat of Parliament, to