Discovering Europe
Europe, a capital ‘quarter’ - The European Union in Brussels
Their glass, granite and metal structures dominate the Brussels skyline, sitting uncomfortably with the typical turn of the 19th Century Brussels town houses with their decorative facades. This construction cluster extends from the Schuman roundabout slightly to the east of Brussels – named after one of the founder fathers of the Union, Robert Schuman. A guided tour of this labyrinth of buildings around the ‘European Quarter’ will help get to grips with the unique EU decision-making process.
The services sector, the backbone of the Brussels economy.
© Solvay
Justus Lipsius, the Council building, named after the 16th Century philosopher, looks down the rue de la Loi. A pinky-brown granite bloc, its solidity suggests signing and sealing. Decisions are taken by one Minister from each of the 27 EU States on the whole range of EU legislation. Its six-month rotating Presidency gives each EU Member State scope to impress areas of particular national concern (www.consilium.europa.eu).
Facing the colossus of the Council across the road is the most recognisable EU building, the ‘Berlaymont’, the ‘X’-shaped 14-floor high European Commission first built in 1967 on the site of a former Augustine monastery and re-opened in 2004 after a decade-long re-fit. This is the headquarters of the body that proposes legislation. The Commission, (www.eu.europa.eu) has a five-year term and a President, currently former Portuguese Prime Minister, José Manuel Durrão Barroso.
Each EU country individually appoints a Commissioner who is attributed a policy area. Belgian Louis Michel is Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner.
The Commissioners are aided by the Directorates General (DG) in each policy area, now numbering over 30, many of which are based in the criss-cross of modern office blocs nearby. Director-General (DG) for development, Stefano Manservisi, heads ‘DG’ development, Koos Richelle is ‘DG’ for the ‘Europeaid’ Cooperation Office (www.ec.europa.eu/europeaid), formed in 2001 to look after the day-to-day implementation of projects in ACP States and in other parts of the world and the EU’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) running emergency aid, (www.ec.europa.eu/echo) is headed by ‘DG’ Antonio Cavaco. The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat (www.acp.int) is a short walk through the ‘Parc Cinquantenaire’ on the avenue Georges Henri. Its current Secretary-General is Sir John Kaputin from Papua New Guinea.
Drop down the hill from Schuman and catch sight of one of Brussels’ prettiest rooftops sitting on top of the European Parliament’s hemicycles, named the ‘Whim of the Gods’, as it is shaped like the box of a famous brand of French cheese of that name (www.europarl.europa.eu). The Parliament’s blue-glazed facade fills more and more of the ‘Place Luxembourg’, the adjoining cobbled Belgian square. The EU’s progression has meant a ‘gentrification’ with chic cafes and restaurants, but the façade of the oldest train station building in Europe, dated 1838, still stands here although its rail links are now underground. Two other consultative bodies wrap up the unwieldy EU decision-making process: the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) (www.eesc.europa.eu) members drawn from employee, employers and other civil society interest groups, and the newest addition, the Committee of the Regions (www.cor.europa.eu) comprised of local and regional government appointees operating from an unmissable glass building a stone’s throw from the Parliament.
