Monday

27th Mar 2023

EU leaders to get warmth and colour

  • In their new meeting room, EU leaders will be able to talk to each other directly (Photo: Eric Maurice)

EU leaders are being offered warmth and colour in a time of political uncertainty.

Starting early next year, they will meet in a new building that is bigger, more modern, and more eco-friendly than the Justus Lipsius, which they have used for the past two decades.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • The Europa building with the "lantern" at night (Photo: Consilium)

The Europa building is a cube-shaped structure that contains a giant lantern and 70,000 square metres of space in the EU quarter.

Belgian architect Philippe Samyn told journalists, who were invited for a tour on Wednesday (7 December), that he did not want to create an "extravagant" landmark.

"The idea was to make a modest gesture," he said.

He said the EU Council, the institution that commissioned the building, gave him a “crystal clear brief" to create "a gathering space”.

He also said the lantern-shaped structure, which consists of an empty atrium on the ground floor, and 13 meeting rooms above, was a product of architectural constraints and “not at all a gesture”.


The building could not weigh too much because it sits on a tunnel used by cars and trains and that it had to contain meeting rooms of various sizes.

Leaders will use the plenary chamber, situated on the third floor, for the first time at a summit in March next year.

It is covered in a multicoloured wool carpet, both on the floor and the ceiling.

It was designed by a Belgian artist, Georges Meurant, and is meant, the Council said, to create "more light and a warmer atmosphere” than in the Justus Lipsius building.

It also has a round, wooden table where leaders can speak face to face, instead of via TV screens as in the old venue.

6,000 meetings

EU ministers will meet on the seventh floor, with their first event scheduled for January.

A room on the fifth floor, with 330 seats, will host "jumbo meetings”, when, for instance, EU foreign and defence ministers come together, as well as multilateral events.

The Europa building has already been used since the end of November by “working groups” of diplomats and national experts.

EU ambassadors are to meet there for the first time before Christmas.

The EU Council, the institution representing member states, organises some 6,000 meetings a year at different levels. Ministers alone meet 70 times a year.

The Justus Lipsius was designed in the 1980s when the EU had just 12 members.

It became too small to host the experts, diplomats, interpreters, clerks, and other civil servants of the 28 member states.

It will still be used for some functions, but Europa will take over all the main events.

Uncertainties

The Europa opening comes at a time of political uncertainty.

The Brexit vote means that it will soon host just 27 leaders. The new building also risks drawing fire from increasingly vocal eurosceptic groups.

Samyn and council officials said it would not exceed the planned cost of €321 million (€240 million in 2004 terms), which is to be paid from the EU budget.

Construction work began eight years ago on a site that once hosted a 1920s apartment complex, the Residence Palace.

Samyn's cube integrated listed parts of the apartment complex - the facade, entrances, and the main corridors.

The L-shaped old part will be used by member states delegations and will host the office of the European Council president.

The other sides of the cube are made of some 3,750 windows framed in wood that was sourced from around the 28 EU states.

The steel parts of the structure are painted in a colour based on samples from the dust of the Rue de la Loi, the four-lane road where the building stands, to stop it from looking dirty.

The roof has 636 solar panels, to produce electricity for the building, which also has a rain water collection system.

The lantern will be illuminated at dawn and in winter evenings until 10PM, using low-consumption LED bulbs.


"It is the lamp of Europe," Samyn said.

MEPs press EU Commission over Qatari-paid business-class flights

Pro-transparency MEPs are asking probing questions into possible conflict of interest between a senior EU commission official and Qatar, following revelations his business class trips were paid by Doha while negotiating a market access deal for its national airline.

Opinion

Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity

From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  2. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  3. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict
  4. Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all
  5. Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
  6. EU leaders agree 1m artillery shells for Ukraine
  7. Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case
  8. How German business interests have shaped EU climate agenda

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us