Brussels, 21/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, held their second and last brainstorming session on Wednesday (in the Maison des Brasseurs in the Grand-Place, Brussels) on the role that the city of Brussels might play as the capital of Europe. Personalities such as the French sociologist, Michel Crozier; the creator of Swatch watches, Nicholas Hayek; the Belgian designer François Schuiten; and Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, reflected on the functions and needs of a European 'capital' and its ability to fulfil its role and smoothly integrate into the city's microcosm. The European Commission's Group of Policy Advisers will now compile a report which will be made available to the Belgian government and the Brussels authorities and offer options on how to dynamise Brussels' diversity and cultural multiplicity. Suggestions include creating a new institute for advanced European studies; improving relations between the EU and Brussels' citizens with a partnership approach to issues like crèches and schools; opening up new building projects to international competition; and reinforcing Brussels as a centre of multilingualism.
Mr Prodi stressed that the experts invited to take part in the project, "have produced original ideas for the future of Brussels", and that the decision taken at the Nice Council "to make Brussels the regular home of European Council meetings will strengthen Brussels' role, and improve the visibility of the city". The group agreed that a European capital needs different attributes from a national capital, since its nature and functions are different.
For the Belgian author of "Cités obscures", François Schuiten, whose comments were published in La Libre Belgique, there is an urgent need to create new links between Brussels and its inhabitants. The European institutional setup has been very badly managed since the institutions have an arrogant position, too separated from life in Brussels and it is time we asked ourselves how this fascinating European capital - that is, however, facing enormous problems - can be managed, he said, including the image that Brussels sends out to EU citizens and their leaders, and to the world outside the EU. Nicholas Hayek feels Brussels is a long way from being the true capital of Europe, a view shared by Rem Koolhaas, who feels a better definition of the city's European ambition was needed. He said that Europe was almost non-existent in iconographic terms and a clear definition was required of how it presents itself and how Brussels can play its part as the capital and absolute centre of gravity of Europe. Michel Crozier stressed the importance of making Brussels a place where people can meet and work together and where all countries meet up and outflank the idea of a nation state, and also the need for Europe, and its capital, to get round national bureaucracies.