Complaint filed by Commission over Berlaymont HQ renovation

Date: 06/06/02

By David Cronin

THE European Commission has filed a complaint with the Belgian government over the renovation of its old Berlaymont headquarters, it has emerged.

The dispute relates to an invitation to tender issued last February by Berlaymont 2000, the company in charge of the building's renovation, for a €650 million loan to cover costs.

Under a 1992 EU directive, the authorities responsible for property management services are required to publish a call for tenders if they are worth more than €700,000.

Although the proposed loan was significantly higher than that threshold, the company did not fulfil the legal condition of notifying the call in the Union's Official Journal.

Internal Reform Commissioner Neil Kinnock said he was 'surprised at the methods and terms of this call for tender'. Responding to a query by German Christian Democrat MEP Gabriele Stauner, the EU executive's vice-president revealed that he had voiced reservations about the matter in a letter to Rik Daems, Belgium's public works minister, dated 7 March.

The surrounding issues have since been partially resolved, however. Two banks, Fortis and Dexia, reached an agreement with the Belgian state in late March on underwriting the price tag for Berlaymont's 'modernisation' in the short term. The need for a call for tenders was, therefore, side-stepped.

The 200,000-square-metre edifice on Brussels' Rond Pont Schuman has been vacant since 1991.

Its evacuation was preceded by a decision to clear it of harmful asbestos, which had been used in its construction.

Earlier this year two Belgian senators unveiled calculations that the final cost of the Berlaymont's refurbishment could amount to €1.5 billion.

That sum would be three times the estimate stipulated by Berlaymont 2000 in its annual report of two years ago.

The European Commission has filed a complaint with the Belgian government over the renovation of its old Berlaymont headquarters.