Brussels ill-equipped to host major summits, say experts

Date: 10/01/02

By David Cronin

Brussels is unlikely to be equipped for hosting major international events such as conferences of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for many years, a new study has concluded.

Despite the Belgian capital's reputation as one of world's leading centres for congresses, consultants Homes International state that the city does not have the capacity to host WTO-type summits, which can attract between 5,000 and 6,000 participants.

Commissioned by the Union of European Federalists (UEF), their paper points out that the capital's biggest conference venue, the Heysel exhibition centre, can host only about 2,000 people in its main auditorium.

The Brussels-based consultants also recommend that Belgian authorities should seek to remedy the 'weaknesses' it has pinpointed in the organisation of the emergency meeting of EU leaders held in Brussels' Justus Lipsius building last September when they plan for other European summits.

While accepting that extra security measures were required in the wake of the 11 September atrocities, the consultants argue that sealing off the area around Rond-Point Schuman for several hours created major inconvenience for the local population. The decision taken at Nice in December 2000 that all summits of EU leaders should be held in Brussels is a 'poisoned gift' for the city, the study adds.

Estimating that the EU institutions now occupy about 13 of total office space in Brussels, the consultants point out that the proportion will increase due to plans to extend the European Parliament and Council headquarters by a combined sum of 15,000 square metres.

Further expansion of EU buildings runs the risk of creating a greater 'desertification' of large tracts of the city during the evening time, the consultants warn. Rising property prices in the city's European quarter and the construction of vast office complexes could prompt a decline in the number of people living in the areas.

For a city with just under one million, it is 'very important to prevent the kind of spatial disorganisation that translates for many citizens in the spreading of their day between distinct geographical zones [for work, accommodation and entertainment],' they add.

A study commissioned by the Union of European Federalists (UEF), and carried out by Brussels-based consultants Homes International, has concluded that Brussels is unlikely to be equipped for hosting major international events such as conferences of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for many years.