ECJ hit by Berlaymont blight

Date: 28/11/1996

Merchants of doom who predicted that rust would be the downfall of the European Court of Justice have been proved wrong - asbestos will close the place first.

The long-term effects of asbestos, otherwise known as Berlaymont blight, have prompted the health inspectors to give the original Sixties court building in Luxembourg only another three years, assuming emergency work is carried out now.

As a precaution, however, there are plans to evacuate about 250 of the ECJ's 900 staff in about three or four months.

The main court hearing room and the library reading room are amongst the parts affected, although the potential problems have been known about for years and regular checks have been made.

Most court officials are already housed in the newer buildings which have been welded to the old, but extra space will be needed to accommodate the chambers of the 15 judges, nine advocates-general, their personal staff, the court's registry and the library.

The closure of the court building will herald the end of an era and see the disappearance of an architectural peculiarity - when the original building went up, the planners deliberately designed the steel framework to rust on the outside, giving the whole place the “contrived eyesore” effect which has been a feature of the Kirchberg plateau for so long.