ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (82)280
Vol.1982/0108

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement (CEE, Euratom) n°354/83 duConseil du1erfévrier 1983
concernant l'ouverture aupublic desarchives historiques delaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergie atomique (JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifié par lerèglement (CE, Euratom) n°1700/2003 du22septembre 2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003, p.1),cedossier estouvert aupublic. Lecaséchéant, lesdocuments
classifiés présents dans cedossier ontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article 5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No354/83 of1February 1983
concerning theopening tothepublic ofthehistorical archives oftheEuropean Economic
Community andtheEuropean Atomic Energy Community (OJL43,15.2.1983, p.1),as
amended byRegulation (EC, Euratom) No1700/2003 of22September 2003 (OJL243,
27.9.2003, p.1),this fileisopen tothepublic. Where necessary, classified documents inthis
filehave been declassified inconformity with Article 5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr.354/83 desRates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L43vom 15.2.1983,
S.1),geändert durch dieVerordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr.1700/2003 vom 22.September 2003
(ABI. L243vom 27.9.2003, S.1),istdiese Datei derÖffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden dieVerschlusssachen indieser Datei inÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel 5
dergenannten Verordnung freigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(82)280 final.
Brussels,11May1982
GENERALBUDGETFOR1982 P't -Cl
SECTIONIII-COMMISSION-PARTA v^/
. •-y
•?<,\
TRANSFEROFAPPROPRIATIONS No10/82
(Non-compulsory expenditure)
FROMCHAPTER100-PROVISIONAL APPROPRIATIONS
TOCHAPTER20-INVESTMENTS INIMMOVABLEPROPERTY,RENTALOF
BUILDINGS ANDASSOCIATED COSTS
Artide206–Acquisition ofimmovableproperty
1500000ECU
TheFinancialControllerapprovedthisproposalon28April19°2in
accordancewithArticle21(4)oftheFinancialRegulationandcertified
thattheappropriations areavailable.
COM(82)280final.

-0<ri
v– -;v*k i>
GROUNDSv..c>'n /-£/v
1, Allavailable space inthe offices oftheCommission Delegation in
1
Tokyo isoccupied "bythe35people currently employed ,there ,"outinthemedium –term
thestaff complement will have to "beraised to45•Furthermore ,these offices
donotmeet present safety requirements andthis makes apoor impression ina
country with which theCommunity *strading -links areoftheutmost importance .
Theresidence oftheHead oftheDelegation -two connected flats with atotal
2area of320m–isnotconvenient fortheentertaining that plays such an
important role inJapanese life .
TheMember States have always taken account ofthe importance ofproper
entertaining bygiving reception rooms intheir residences preference over their
V--vp «eiieries .Allexcept Ireland ownthebuildings they occupy .
2. Since the conclusions ofthe Commission 'seconomic analysis establishing
theadvantages ofpurchase ofbuildings over rental arenolonger questioned ,
theCommission isrequesting themeans topurchase aplot ofland and construct
abuilding tohouse both offices andresidence .
Inthe1980 budget theCommission unsuccessfully requested anappropriation
of6904000ECUtobuyaplot ofland (5530000ECU)andbegin building
(1374000ECU ,onethird ofthetotal cost )andthen asked foranappropriation
of2094000ECUinthe 1931 budget tocontinue work .
For1982 itrequested 7200000ECUforthepurchase ofaplot ofland anda
further 1300000ECUfortheconstruction ofabuilding .AsinI9S1 ,itwas
granted only 1500000ECUwhich v/asentered inChapter 100 .
3. Twenty-five percent oftheinhabitable land area ofJapan ,lies around
Osaka ,Nagoya andparticularly Tokyo ,where about JOfoofvhepopulation and
thesame percentage ofindustrial' production aretobefound .Thevery rapid grcvrtii
ofthese areaa hasresulted inacute over-population with almost insoluble housing
problems androcketing land prices ;fierce competition has ,however ,pegced
building costs .

-2-
IftheDelegation istofunction efficiently ,these factors must betaken into
account and the search for asuitable site must beconfined ,tothe area of
Chiyoda-Xu andapart oftheadjoining district ofMinato-Ku .These arecentral
areas where most oftheembassies oftheMember States ,ministries ,business
centres andpress offices are situated .
Having hadnosuccess initsapproaches totheJapanese authorities (Ministry
ofForeign Affairs )andtotheembassies oftheUnited States andthePhilippines ,
which ownland ,theCommission decided tostudy theland market itself .
4. Land prices have risen sharply inonly afewyears from 2509ECUper
square metre in1978 tobetween 5018ECUand 6277ECUpersquare metre in
1982 .
There are three sites for sale atthe moment inthe area referred toat3above :
2–inChiyoda –Kuinanarea designated forcommercial building :1118mat
9538ECUpersquare metre ;
2–inChiyoda-Ku inaresidential area :160omat5647ECUpersquare metre ;
2-inMinami –Azabu inaresidential zone :3280mat5647ECUpersquare metre .
Some other sites became available butthese were notpursued because the
Community 'sdecision –making process cannot keep upwith thespeed atwhich land
deals areusually completed .
5. TheCommission hasalso considered thefollowing solutions :
(a)continuing torent thespace required foritsoffices andtheresidence of
itsHead ofDelegation .Thefinancial terms areextremely unattractive and
there isnoreturn 011themoney spent .This solution runs counter tothe
recommenda-tions oftheCourt ofAuditors andParliament ;
(b)purchase ofasuitable area inanexisting building .Since office and
apartment blocks arebuilt bylarge companies either fortheir ownneeds
orasaninvestment ,itisimpossible tobuyparts ofbuildings inTokyo ;
(c)tohave thespace required fortheoffices andresidence included ina
building under construction .Although this solution would provide
custom-built premises ,there would benofinancial advantage because a
large deposit yielding nointerest would have tobelodged ,andthen a
normal rent paid .Foranarea which could beused fortheresidence ,
2cnancellery andtwoflats ona264Omsite near theBritish Snbassy ,a
deposit of6.2million ECUfollowed byanannual rent of745236ECUhas
been quoted .

-3-
If -the "budgetary authority rejects itsbuilding proposal ,theCommission will
have tofall "baok onthis^ast solution which would atleast have theadvantage
ofproviding space adequate foritsneeds andsecurity .Itwould however
involve payment ofsome 6million ECUasadeposit ;this sumwould "bereturned
atthe end ofthe lease .
6. TheConference ofCatholic Bishops inJapan wishes toauction apiece
ofland which itowns .Advertisements will "bepublished inmid–June .Staff
from Brussels have "been toseethe site ,which appears very attractive .Itis
situated inChiyoda-Ku (itokubancho )near totwolarge railway stations andthe
Belgian Bnbassy ,ten -minutes walk from thedelegations present offices andin
anarea where fire protection facilities are excellent .
2Thetotal area isabout 2280m.This could heused foracomplex ofoffices
andresidence notmore thaji 20mhigh ,providing 3600square metres ofusable
space .TheCommission would use this asfollows :
2-offices :1200m;
. .. 2-residence oftheHead ofDelegation :600m;
2–two orthree meeting rooms :400m;
. .. . 2–parking ,technical services ,archives ,storage etc :1400m.
Consultations with architects ,construction firms and "banks suggest that :
(a)anoffer ofless than 5&4QECUpersquare metre (12860000ECUforthe
whole site )isunlikely to "besuccessful ;
("b)themaximum price thesite islikely torealise is6277ECUper
square metre (atotal of14310000ECU).Areserve appropriation should
therefore besetaside ;this would notbeused unless required ..
»

7(a) TheCommission istherefore requesting thebudgetary authority
toauthorise thetransfer of1,5million ECU entered inChapter A100
(Provisional appropriations )toArticle A206 (Acquisition ofimmovable
property )toenable ittogoahead with this building project .
(b) Inauthorizing this transfer ,thebudgetary authority would also
commit itself toproviding afurther 12.8 million ECUforArticle A206 ,
ifrequired ,onthebasis ofaproposal which theCommission would submit
before the endofthis financial year .

APPROPRIATIONS INCHAPTER100-PARTA
ASAT23APRIL1982
1.Totalappropriations 6231000ECU
2.Appropriations oeingtransferred 355000ECU
3.Appropriations stillavaila*ble 5876000ECU