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Date: 10/09/1998

The combined efforts of the European Commission, the Brussels Region and the Belgian capital's local transport service have at last succeeded in bringing staff from NATO and the Commission's overseas development department in from the cold.

Quietly shivering away in their offices in the suburb of Evere on the edge of Brussels, the officials concerned have for years felt distinctly cut off from colleagues and events in the town centre.

But from now on, all they will have to do if they feel lonely is jump on a special bus which departs every 15 minutes, and they will be whisked to the centre of Euro-land.

The Commission's Directorate-General for personnel (DGIX) negotiated with the Brussels authorities to set up the free bus service .

After a successful initial pilot project which ran from January to June this year, DGIX canvassed the users of two bus routes which were set up to link the various Commission offices in Brussels.

More than 3,000 replies later, the scheme has been declared a success and the two routes have been extended.