# CE2004065EN.01016601.xml

| 13.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 65/166 |
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13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 65/166

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(2004/C 65 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2510/03

by Roberto Bigliardo (UEN) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject:   Rental of the City Center Building

Subject:

The Commission's Brussels Office for infrastructures and logistics (OIB) is about to rent the City Centre Building near the Gare du Nord district even though the administration's health and safety unit has advised it not to do so.

The Brussels property lobby has been attempting for years, without success, to persuade the Commission to establish a third centre of activity for the European institutions in the Gare du Nord district.

| 1. | Is the rental of the City Center Building intended to pave the way for a large-scale transfer of staff to the Gare du Nord district? |
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1.

Is the rental of the City Center Building intended to pave the way for a large-scale transfer of staff to the Gare du Nord district?

| 2. | If so, can the Commission say why it is choosing to move officials to an area with serious problems as regards quality of life and security? |
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2.

If so, can the Commission say why it is choosing to move officials to an area with serious problems as regards quality of life and security?

| 3. | Could the Commission say, at all events, what it will do to stop the rental of the City Center Building? |
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3.

Could the Commission say, at all events, what it will do to stop the rental of the City Center Building?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(3 November 2003)

(3 November 2003)

Consideration of the ‘City Center’ as a possible location for Commission staff originated from a request of the administrative services of the Parliament to occupy the ‘Montoyer 75’ building (MO75). The Commission responded positively to this request and asked the OIB to search for a new building in which to relocate the officials of the Directorate General for Research and Technological Development (DG RTD) who currently occupy MO75.

Over an extended period the Parliament had itself commenced negotiations to lease City Center for its own requirements if it became evident that an exchange with the Commission was not possible. In the apparent absence of alternative options which would have allowed the Commission to vacate MO75 by the date requested by the Parliament, OIB took over these negotiations. After due consideration it was recognised that City Center would not be suitable, and OIB therefore continued to work to finding better alternatives, within or close to the European quarter. Despite some complications, discussions on a more suitable option are now progressing, and the promoters of the City Center project have been informed that Commission services will not be taking this building.

For the record, it should be noted that the CSHT (Comité de Sécurité et Hygiène au Travail) of the Commission in Brussels did not reach either a negative or a positive opinion on the suitability of City Center and the USHT (Unité de Sécurité et Hygiène au Travail) laid down a number of conditions to be fulfilled for occupying the building. It is consequently not strictly accurate to suggest that consideration of the possibility of renting City Center was against the advice of health and safety specialists in the Commission.

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