Brussels, 28/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Vice-President of the European Commission, Siim Kallas, Luxembourg's sustainable development and infrastructure minister Claude Wiseler, and the chair of the planning body 'Fonds d'Urbanisation et d'Aménagement du Plateau du Kirchberg,' Patrick Gillen, signed an agreement on Friday 25 September 2009 on cooperation between the Luxembourg authorities and the European Commission to build a new administrative complex to replace the Jean Monnet Building.
Built in 1975, the current Jean Monnet Building, housing the core of the European Commission departments in Luxembourg, currently houses at the Kirchberg site 1,900 of the 3,500 people working for the European Commission in Luxembourg. The agreement signed on Friday concludes a negotiating process that started in 2002 with the aim of deciding on how the European Commission's departments would be housed in future. It paves the way for replacing the current building, originally designed to be occupied for 25 years. The Luxembourg government is thereby pledging to continue to make efforts in terms of real estate and planning to ensure that the new building can be built by 2015.
The Commission is re-organising itself in Luxembourg by bringing all its departments together into the same area at Kirchberg - all, that is, except the departments currently located in the Euroforum Building (Gasperich) and BECH (above the Auchan shopping centre). It is committing itself to having a keynote building in Luxembourg, like the Berlaymont building in Brussels, opened in 2004. The new complex will have a total area of 120,000 m² and will initially replace JMO 1 and later, the Hitec and Drosbach Buildings that the Commission currently occupies on the Gasperich site. It is being planned, where necessary, to extend the complex by a further 32,000 m².
Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Luxembourg pledges to provide and sell to the Commission at a symbolic price (a single euro) the ground needed for the Jean Monnet 2 Building. It also pledges to build a series of offices to replace the current building, to provide pre-financing and supply the building to the Commission ready for it to move in. The project has two phases. The initial phase of 76,000 m² will be followed by a second, of 44,000 m². The possible construction of a 32,000 m² extension on adjacent land will be covered by a separate, future agreement. Measures will be taken to ensure the infrastructure is as energy efficient as possible and provides as much comfort to users as possible. The buildings will be fully adapted for use by the disabled. (L.C. trans fl)