Berlaymont project to carry on despite missed deadline

Date: 10/01/02

By David Cronin

THE European Commission has denied that failure to reach an accord about the future of its old Berlaymont headquarters by the planned date of New Year's Eve will hinder work on renovating the mammoth building.

Internal reform chief Neil Kinnock had hoped to sign an agreement with Rik Daems, the Belgian public works minister, on returning the 200,000-square-metre building to the Commission before the end of 2001. That objective has proven elusive because Daems has requested an internal audit into the refurbishment, following reports that the project's costs had soared.

But Kinnock's spokesman, Eric Mamer, said that the EU executive hopes to resume talks with the Belgian authorities once the audit has been finished.

'We have agreed to postpone the negotiations, though not indefinitely,' he added. 'In the meantime, we have made a lot of progress on the technical side. Work on the Berlaymont has not stopped.'

Last weekend Le Soir reported that Berlaymont 2000, the mainly state-owned company overseeing the refurbishment, still hoped to complete the 'first phase' of the project by 2003. Company head Luc Kint said that 400 people are currently stationed on the site.

The huge edifice, which dominates the Schuman area of Brussels, has been shut for a decade because of health concerns over the use of 1,400 tonnes of asbestos in its initial construction.

The Commission had originally hoped to re-occupy it during 2000 but the project has been plagued by delays, legal difficulties and allegations of shady deals.

A spokesman for the European anti-fraud office (OLAF) said that its probe into claims of wrongdoing by one contractor involved in the project remains ongoing. Meanwhile, the company EuropConstruct is seeking a compensation payment of €45 million in a case involving the installation of a heating and ventilation system in the building.

UK Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris is currently awaiting a response to a recent Parliamentary question, in which he asks the Commission the 'predicted total cost' of the work and if any 'prosecutions will take place because of problems in the Berlaymont project'.

Two Belgian senators, Alain Destexhe and Vincent Van Quickenborne, have estimated that the project could cost European taxpayers nearly €1.5 billion.

The European Commission has denied that failure to reach an accord about the future of its old Berlaymont headquarters by the planned date of 31 December 2001 will hinder work on renovating the building.