Brussels, 23/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the Minister-President of Région Bruxelles-Capitale (Brussels), François- Xavier de Donnea, unveiled the main plans for directing the development of the Brussels-Europe area for the next eight years. This plan intends to meet the challenges brought about by enlargement, for the city of Brussels, while preserving its specific cultural, social and urban identity in its transformation from a medium-sized town to that of a city on a world scale.
The European Union will grow from 28 to 30 Member States but according to Mr de Donnea, the development of European institutions is not expected to necessitate a third area of office blocks. Renovation, together with current building or that already planned will therefore be sufficient for the present. The Brussels region has a reserve supply of buildings that should allow the city to meet demand if the Union is further enlarged from 30 Member States. Subsequently, the document argues, priority could be given to revitalising housing by taking care not to push all accommodation toward the city outskirts. Similarly, the Schuman-Josephat rail link is expected to provide benefits, with the reorganisation of the Cortenburgh tunnel route, leading to greater access to the European quarter without bringing more traffic into the town. Proposals for land regeneration, such as changes to the Léopold Park, the rue de la Loi and the rue Belliard, as well as the creation and improvement of an intermodal Schuman transport axis (metro, stations and trains), etc., are also planned. Most of these projects have the advantage of not being expected to engender additional costs, given that they are part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Federal State and the Brussels regional authorities.
If Brussels decides not to pay host to all the European institutions, it will still have to cater for all the European summits. Following the decisions of the European Council in Nice, Brussels will now host a summit for each Presidency before it becomes the sole venue for Heads of State and Governments, as soon as the EU becomes 18 members strong. The first of these summits, during the Danish Presidency in October will be held in rooms that have been converted within the current EU Council building (Juste Lipse). This is the best short and medium term solution, according to Mr de Donnea, who has been appealing for a long time for the Tour et Taxis site, indeed the Schaerbeek-Formation as possible alternative locations. In a response to the demands that will be made with the arrival of an additional 4,000-5,000 EU officials from new Member States, Mr de Donnea envisages the former Laeken cadet school as the location of the fourth European School. The document outlines that this will mean the North of Brussels becoming more important as an area for the EU institutions and will encourage "Europeans" to settle there.