22/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - On 21 October, Romano Prodi opened the renovated Berlaymont building which housed the European Commission from 1967 to 1991, when Jacques Delors, as the outgoing president of the Commission pointed out in his speech, "evacuated it as a matter of urgency (…) due to asbestos", to find "refuge in the Breydel building". "We all thought that this would be just a short exile", whereas "we ended up outstaying our welcome: thirteen years", said Romano Prodi. On this "flagship, this symbol of the Europe we are building", he noted: "It is said that a Secretary General who made his mark on the Commission [most likely Emile Noël: Ed] stood outside the building in the mornings and was able to take stock of the morale of the institution, just by greeting staff arriving for work or exchanging a few words with them".