In Brussels, the Europa building is opening, the new venue for EU summits

Brussels - Today, the public in Brussels could for the first time view the new Europa building from the inside, which will host ministerial meetings and summits of presidents and prime ministers of the union countries starting next year. The glass house, whose distinctive multi-story "vase," "egg," or officially "glowing lantern" has also made it into the new logo of the EU Council, is located in the European quarter of Brussels, right next to the Justus Lipsius building, which it will supplement and take over next year.

The exterior facade of the building consists of a rather confusing number of window frames of various sizes, which obscure the view of the central "lantern" of the house. There are 3,750 frames, sourced from all 28 member countries of the union, symbolizing "unity in diversity," the union's motto. The building not only features a modern part designed by the consortium of Samyn and Partners (Belgium), Studio Valle Progettazioni (Italy), and BuroHappold (UK), but it also "absorbed" the reconstructed block of the Résidence palace designed by architect Michel Polak from 1922.

The building boasts its "green" solution; for example, the entire roof area is covered with solar panels. However, in rainy Brussels, the more useful idea may be the automatic collection of rainwater, which can be used, for example, for flushing toilets.

The decision to construct a new building for summits and other meetings of the member countries of the union was made in 2004, at a time when the EU significantly expanded. However, the building will paradoxically only start operating in the year when negotiations for Britain's exit from the twenty-eight will begin.

The building, with a budget of €321 million (8.7 billion CZK) practically fully funded by union resources, has experienced delays in Belgium. The construction site has thus become a well-known part of the union quarter for many years, alongside the similarly slowly progressing reconstruction of the nearby metro station. The actual total construction costs have not yet been calculated; this is expected to happen in the coming months.

The first ministerial meeting in the new and more colorful environment is set to take place under the presidency of Malta in January. The first summit, according to current plans, should be the regular March meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU.

“The building offers two institutions - the European Council and the Council of the EU - additional space and modern facilities that they need. It will allow us to flexibly and efficiently organize more than 6,000 meetings annually,” stated the Secretary-General of the Council of the EU, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen.