Brussels and the European Union

The Parliament's Paul-Henri Spaak building, as seen from Justus Lipsius

Brussels (Belgium) is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union. However it is important to note that the EU has no official capital with no plans to declare one. The seat hosts the official seats of the European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Council and a second seat of the European Parliament.

History

Further information: History of the European Union

The Berlaymont in 1975

In 1951 European Coal and Steel Community leaders were deciding on the location of the community's institutions, although they would have accepted Brussels, the Belgian government at the time was unstable so Luxembourg was chosen as a provisional seat. Since the treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, administrative departments were eventually set up in Brussels and the executives met alternatively in Brussels and Luxembourg. Due to practical reasons however, meetings began to take place only in Brussels.^[1][2]

In 1965 when the merger treaty combined the executives of the three communities. With a desire to centralise all the institutions, Luxembourg was concerned about losing all her institutions such as the High Authority. Luxembourg's demand for compensation led to the current arrangement of institutions split across the three cities, through this Brussels was granted most Commission departments, the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and host meetings of the Parliaments political groups. The new Commission of the European Communities was based on the Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée/Blijde Inkomstlaan.^[1][2] These decisions were reaffirmed by the Edinburgh European Council^[3] (12 December 1992) This was enshrined in the Amsterdam Treaty after being challeneged by the Parliament.^[4]

In 2002 it was agreed that the European Council should also be based in Brussels, having been moving between different cities as the EU's Presidency rotated. From 2004 all Councils were meant to be held in Brussels, however some extraordinary meetings are still held elsewhere. The reason for the move was in part due to the experience of the Belgian police in dealing with protesters and the fixed facilities in Brussels.^[5]

European quarter

Most of the institutions are located within the European Union (EU) quarter, or district, of Brussels, which is the unofficial name of the area corresponding to the approximate triangle between Brussels Park, Cinquantenaire Park and Leopold Park (with the Parliament's hemicycle extending into the latter). The Commission and Council are located in the heart of this area near to the Schuman station at the Schuman roundabout on the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat. The European Parliament is located over the Brussels-Luxembourg railway station, next to Luxembourg Square.^[2]

Berlaymont

Main article: Berlaymont building

Berlaymont, 2007

The most iconic structure is of course the Berlaymont, the primary seat of the Commission. It was the first building to be constructed for the Community, originally built in the 1960s. It was designed by Lucien De Vestel, Jean Gilson, André Polak and Jean Polak and paid for by the Belgian government (who could occupy it if the Commission left Brussels). It was inspired by a UNESCO building in Paris, designed as a four-pointed star on supporting columns, and at the time an ambitious design.

Originally built with flock asbestos, the building was renovated in the 1990s to remove it and renovate the ageing building to cope with enlargement. After a period of exile in the Breydel building on the Avenue d'Auderghem/Oudergemlaan, the Commission reoccupied the Berlaymont in 2005 and bought the building for 550 million euros.

The president of the Commission occupies the largest office, near the Commission's meeting room on the top (13th) floor. Although the main Commission building, it houses only 2,000 out of the 20,000 Commission officials based in Brussels. In addition to the Commissioners and their cabinets, the Berlaymont also houses the Commission's Secretariat-General and Legal Service.

Rebuilding

Madou Tower, new buildings are set to go higher

Across the quarter the Commission occupies 865,000m² in 61 buildings with the Berlaymont and Charlemagne buildings the only ones over 50,000m². Due to the accession of 12 new members in 2004 and 2007 staff has risen by 2,250 demanding an extra 35,000m² of office space. There are concerns that further buildings within the district will create a "ghetto effect". Thus, since 2004 some Commission buildings have been decentralised across the city to areas such as avenue de Beaulieulaan and rue de Genèvestraat in Evere.^[6][7]

In September 2007, the Commissioner for Administrative Affairs Siim Kallas, together with Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region Charles Picqué, unveiled plans for rebuilding the district. It would involve new buildings (220,000m² of new office space) but also more efficient use of existing space. This is primarily through replacing numerous smaller buildings with fewer, larger, buildings. Although they would be taller than the current buildings (such as Berlaymont, Charlemagne or Mardou), they would not by skyscrapers. The freed up space (some 180,000m²) would be given over to housing, shops, services and open spaces to give the are a more "human" feel. This would in particularly be around the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, which would be reduced from four lanes of traffic to two while transport links will be "optimised".^[8][7]

Given the delays and cost of the Berlaymont and other projects, the Commissioner emphasises that the new plans would offer "better value for money" and that the designs would be subject to an international architecture competition. He also pushed that controlling the buildings carbon footprint would be "an integral part of the programme".^[8]

Other bodies

View from the Berlaymont of the Council and Parliament buildings

Across the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat from the Berlayont is the Justus Lipsius building which houses the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The Council's secretariat had originally been based in the city centre, and then in the Charlemagne building joining the other European buildings centred on the Schuman roundabout.^[1][2] From 2008 they will move next door to Résidence Palace once it has been renovated.

The Parliament's buildings are located to the south between Leopold Park and Luxembourg Square, over Brussels-Luxembourg Station which is underground. The complex, known as the "Espace Léopold" (in French) or "Leopoldsruimte" (in Dutch), has two main buildings: Paul-Henri Spaak and Altiero Spinelli which cover 372,000 m². Paul-Henri Spaak holds the hemicycle and juts out from the complex into Leopold Park. The Parliament is currently being extended towards the Luxembourg Square, which will finish by 2008. The complex is not the official seat of the Parliament with its work being split between three cities Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg with its official seat in Strasbourg.

The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions together occupy the Delors building, which is next to Leopold Park and used to be occupied by the Parliament. They also use the office building Bertha von Suttner. Both buildings were named in 2006.^[9][10] Brussels also hosts two agencies, the European Defence Agency (located on Rue des Drapiers/Lakenweversstraat) and the Intelligent Energy Executive Agency - (in Madou Tower). There is also EUROCONTROL, an semi-EU basied air traffic control agency covering much of Europe and the Western European Union which is a non-EU military organisation which is merging into the EU's CFSP.

Status

The Commission's press room in the Berlaymont attracts more journalists than Washington D.C.

Like Washington D.C., Brussels is a centre of political activity with ambassadors to Belgium, NATO and the Union meaning there are more ambassadors based in the city than in the US capital. There's also a greater number of press corps in Brussels with media outlets in every Union member-state having a Brussels correspondent and there are 10,000 lobbyists registered. The Commission employs 25,000^[11] people and the Parliament employs about 5000 people^[12]. Because of this concentration, Brussels is a preferred location for any move towards a single seat.^[13][14]

In 2007, problems in forming a government increased support for the independence of Flanders from Belgium. Belgium currently operates a complex federal system between Flanders (Dutch speaking) and Wallonia (French speaking) which has been criticised by some but the system has also been compared to the EU, as a "laboratory of Europe". However Brussels is inside Flanders yet is predominantly French speaking (officially bilingual). In the event of Independence, the future status of the city is unknown and problematic, but some have suggested it become a "European [capital] district", like Washington D.C. or the Australian Capital Territory, run by the EU rather than Flanders or Wallonia.^[15][16]

See also

• History of the European Union
• Institutions of the European Union
• Location of European Union institutions

References

External links

• Google Maps, Robert Schuman
• Map of the EU area Lanmark Publishing
• Brussels International Brussels Tourism
• Visit the European Parliament Europarl
• Parliament D4 & D5 buildings VK Group, In French
• Gallery of the EU Quarter Eupedia

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