WRITTEN QUESTION P-1889/96 by Luigi Florio (UPE) to the Commission (5 July 1996)

Subject: Commission premises

1. How many buildings does the Commission currently occupy in the various EU countries?

2. How many buildings does the Commission currently occupy in non-EU countries?

3. What are the location (address) and size of the various buildings referred to in 1 and 2?

4. What is each of them used for?

5. On what basis is each building occupied (ownership, rental etc.)?

6. If occupied in return for payment but not owned, what was the annual cost for each building in 1994 and 1995?

7. How many officials work in each building?

8. What was the phone bill for each building in 1994 and 1995?

9. What was the electricity bill for each building in 1994 and 1995?

Supplementary answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (18 September 1996)

Further to its reply of 15 July 1996, ((OJ C 305, 15.10.1996, p. 123. )) the Commission is now able to provide the following information:

1. The Commission currently occupies 61 buildings in Brussels, 13 in Luxembourg and 23 in the Member States.

2. The Commission currently occupies 233 buildings, of widely varying size, in non-member countries, which are used to house its external delegations.

3. The locations (addresses) of the various buildings referred to in 1 and 2 are to be found in the Commission telephone directory (1), for buildings in Brussels and Luxembourg, and in the official Directory of its departments, for other countries.

The surface area of each of the buildings in Brussels and Luxembourg is among the items of information communicated to Parliament each year in the course of the budgetary procedure. ((This document has been sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. )) The surface area of the buildings in other Member States of the Union is indicated in the table sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.

4. Most of the buildings occupied by the Commission are used as offices, others are used as the residences of heads of delegation, conference centres, social activity centres, premises for after-school child-minding services, kitchens or warehousing. The use to which each of the buildings is put is indicated in the document sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.

5. Currently, the Commission owns five buildings in Brussels, six in the Member States and 45 in non-member countries, which are used as delegation offices. It rents all other buildings.

6. The cost of buildings rentals paid by the Commission in 1994 and 1995 for buildings of which it is not the owner, is, for buildings in Brussels and Luxembourg, among the items of information communicated to Parliament each year in the course of the budgetary procedure (2). With respect to buildings in the Member States, this information appears in the document sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. For non-member countries, the cost of renting in 1995 is indicated in a document sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.

7. The number of occupants of each building is indicated in the documents sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat.

8. The Commission's central telephone system in Brussels and Luxembourg does not allow a breakdown of the telephone bill by building. Overall, the bill for 1994 totalled ECU 14.6 million for Brussels and ECU 1.8 million for Luxembourg; in 1995, the bill for Brussels was ECU 13.3 million and ECU 1.8 million for Luxembourg. The telephone bills for the buildings in the Member States are contained in the document sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. For those in non-member countries, the total bills were ECU 4.8 million in 1994 and ECU 4.9 million in 1995.

9. The electricity bills for 1994 and 1995 are indicated in the document sent directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat. For buildings in non-member countries, the total bills were ECU 1.4 million in 1994 and ECU 1.5 million in 1995.