THE European parliament has been condemned for spending £262,000 on a party to toast the new European Union constitution in Strasbourg this week.

Conservative and UK Independence party MEPs have expressed “moral outrage” at the cost. Confidential parliamentary documents reveal that £25,000 will be spent on inviting two grands penseurs (thinkers) and 20 grandes plumes (columnists) from states holding referendums on the constitution.

Those invited include Adela Cortina Orts, a Spanish philosopher, and Jeremy Rifkin, the American author of The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream.

A further £70,000 will be used to bring over 100 regional journalists “to ensure maximum coverage”. Participants will attend a £56,000 “round table event” and a lavish lunch in the chambers of Josep Borrell, the Spanish president of the parliament. Other expenditure, such as as £31,000 on internal decorations and £56,000 on external ones, has amazed even EU officials used to generous expenses. “There are other things going on in the world at the moment,” said one.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Tory MEP, said he had written to Borrell urging him to cancel the event out of respect for the Asian tsunami victims.

“MEPs will be drinking champagne and spending £262,000 while people are struggling to find water purification tablets in the tsunami region,” he said. “We should be sending this money to southeast Asia.”

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