What is the Commissions role in the competition launched last year to redesign the European quarter?
The Brussels-Capital Region launched the competition in close cooperation with the European Commission and the City of Brussels. The Region is the contracting authority for the project. As such it is responsible for organising the competition, taking decisions (after consulting an advisory committee), monitoring progress and ensuring completion of the project. The Commission’s involvement is confined to sending two representatives to sit on the advisory committee alongside representatives of the City of Brussels and selected international experts, and financing the travel costs of these international experts. The Commission is the only European institution which has buildings inside the area defined for the urban design competition: it currently occupies 170 000 square metres in the area in question, which it intends to redevelop to coincide with the competition. It wants its buildings policy to complement the impetus given by the master plan and the urban design competition. Its aim i
