points higher in the 10 new members with women and the under 35 year-olds. The group with the highest support for Strasbourg was the over 35-year-olds with 28 percent support. The citizens of Strasbourg are of course strong supporters of the Parliament being based in Strasbourg with each session being worth four million euro to the city's economy. In September 2008, Strasbourg's government passed a motion demanding all of Parliament's activities be relocated to the city. These polls have not affected the position of France, which can veto any such move, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy stating that its seat is "non-negotiable". Despite that, the government has stated that the issue might be addressed if France were to be offered something of equal value. The Council itself has indicated privately that it would discuss the Strasbourg seat only if Parliament gives them a signal to start a debate, as they would not do on their own initiative. However, few wish to discuss the issue while the current constitutional issues are still present. Although political parties have no formal position, the Greens, Liberals and Socialists are all outspoken on having Brussels as a permanent seat. In 2020, Irish MEP Clare Daly told The Parliament Magazine that the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the unnecessary nature of travelling to Strasbourg for plenary, and called for the seat's abolition as part of the EU's economic recovery plans Alternative role for Strasbourg In January 2003, Green-EFA co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit proposed turning the Strasbourg seat into a "European university". Elaborating on this in 2008, he sees such a university teaching all subjects and funded directly by the EU with between 15,000 and 20,000 students. The same idea has been put forward in January 2006 by Polish minister and former dissident Bronisław Geremek, in an article originally published by Le Monde. In an open letter to Cohn-Bendit, Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg, reminded him that the international attractiveness of the University of Strasbourg was related to the presence of European institutions in Strasbourg and that it would not be enhanced, but undermined, by the replacement of one of the largest of these institutions by just another, and much smaller, university. The year before, the proposed European Institute of Technology had been touted as the university to take over the building. It has been proposed that the Institute could also be merged with European Research Council and based