Lawmakers are planning a makeover of the European Parliament’s plenary chamber in Brussels that will cost up to €490 million and leave the assembly’s hemicycle out of action for 18 months, according to an internal document seen by EURACTIV.
The Parliament’s leadership, known as the Bureau, is close to agreeing on an overhaul of the Paul-Henri Spaak building, which houses the hemicycle for plenary sessions in Brussels, that would bring it in line with the EU’s environmental laws.
The revamp would amount to “a profound environmental renovation of the current building,” the document states, adding that “the building would be upgraded and modernised without fundamental changes to its functionalities or its architectural design.”
MEPs moved into the building in the European quarter in the 1990s, but officials have warned that its technical installations, facades and roofs need major repair.
In 2018, the Bureau invited the Parliament’s administration to organise an architectural competition for a complete rebuild of the Spaak building. However, with fears that costs could spiral close to €1 billion, the plan was shot down by MEPs in October 2022, who instead urged the Bureau to explore savings opportunities and totally reconsider the project.
ln a resolution adopted in April, MEPs stated that the aim of any works in the Spaak building should be to ensure its compliance with energy saving and health and safety standards.
Though the new proposal would be significantly cheaper, the document states that “the first indication of the costs relating to this renovation would be of approximately €350 million” with overheads, design and other fees leading to total costs between €455 and €490 million.
Parliament officials say that the study and tender process would take around three years with the works themselves lasting several years. The plenary chamber itself, which hosts five ‘mini sessions’ each year, would be closed for up to 18 months.
The Parliament document states that “an overwhelming majority” of political groups in the Bureau, supported the planned renovation. However, no date has been set for a final decision.
The bureau has also concluded a 99 year lease for €700,000 per year with the French government for the controversial Osmose building project at the Parliament’s complex in Strasbourg
The Parliament is locked into the contract for at least 21 years and has the right to purchase the building.
The Bureau had intended to purchase the Osmose building, which sits next to the main Parliament building, as part of an exchange deal involving the Salvador De Madariaga building, which currently houses the offices of parliament staff.
Those plans were blocked following opposition by the Socialist, Green and Left groups who criticised the idea of acquiring expensive new premises.
The left-leaning groups also opposed the agreement of the lease but were outvoted by the centre-right EPP, the European Conservatives and Reformists, and the liberal Renew Europe group, which includes MEPs from the governing Renaissance party in France.
Eleonora Vasques contributed reporting.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon]
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