WRITTEN QUESTION E-1412/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 May 2002)

Subject: Exclusive shop for EU officials in Brussels

Commissioner Kinnock recently had a shop opened in Wetenschapsstraat/rue de la Science in Brussels which is reserved for the use of European officials. It is a branch of Delhaize, which evidently submitted the best tender under the public procurement procedure. According to newspaper articles, the shop is solely for the use of European officials, signs are bilingual in French and English, and the language spoken is French. More generally, the shop sells a relatively wide range of luxury goods.

At this EU supermarket in Wetenschapsstraat/rue de la Science, will the Commission arrange for adherence to the bilingualism provided for by the Belgian Constitution for the Brussels Capital Region?

Do European officials really need a shop specially reserved for them or could they not, like the million other residents of Brussels, make do with the goods already on offer elsewhere in this multicultural metropolis? In other words, what do EU officials gain from this shop?

Does the Commission agree that such exclusive shops, far from reducing the gulf between Europe and its citizens, is liable to increase it and that they are therefore very bad for Europe's general image?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

On the issue of adherence to bilingualism, the Commission refers the Honourable Member to the answer given to his oral question H-359/02 during question time at Parliament's June 2002 session(1).

A staff shop for officials of the Commission and other Institutions in Brussels has existed for many years, first in the Berlaymont and later in the Commission building at 27 Rue de la Science/Wetenschapsstraat. The fact that use of the shop is limited is related entirely to requirements of proof of identity and security and not to exclusivity. The shop can therefore be used by staff of all the EU Institutions, Members of the Parliament and their assistants, staff of EU Permanent Representations and Embassies, accredited journalists and staff of certain other Institutions, such as, for instance, Eurocontrol.

As the Honourable Member will know, most Commission buildings in Brussels and the places of work of other Institutions are situated in proximity to Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat, an area in which shopping facilities are very limited. Because of that, the Commission continues to believe that it is in the interest of the staff and of the Institutions that a shop should be conveniently located in this area.

However, in 2000, as part of its conclusions on the Peer Group Review which were reported to Parliament the Commission also decided that it should not use its own personnel to run the staff shop. A tender was therefore launched with a view to externalising the management of the staff shop.

Following the completion of the tender procedure, the contract to manage the shop was awarded to S.A. Delhaize Le Lion, who had proposed to re-equip and renovate the shop at their own expense in line with their City supermarket concept. Delhaize took over management of the shop in January 2002 and the renovations were completed in April 2002. It should be noted that Delhaize pays a fixed annual sum to the Commission to cover infrastructure costs.

The shop is a small supermarket of the Delhaize City type which offers the same range of products that is typically found in a normal supermarket and the management has no intention of offering what the Honourable Member describes as luxury goods to an exclusive clientele.

For these reasons, the Commission does not agree with the assertion contained in the conclusion of the Honourable Member's question.

(1) Written reply 11.6.2002.