European Council and Council of the European Union | Samyn and Partners

European Council and Council of the European Union

The current building used for European Council and Council meetings – the Justus Lipsius – was planned in the late 1980s, when the EU had 12 member states and is in use since 1994. It was not conceived to host meetings of heads of state or government (they were organized away from Brussels at the time), nor for 27 or more member states. Since 2008, the number of meetings of Heads of state or government in the Justus Lipsius has doubled on average (from 4 to 8). In addition, since 2009, the JL hosts summits between the EU and third countries (e.g. EU-China, EU-Russia, etc.) For each meeting of EU Heads of state or government, all other meetings have to be canceled during three days (more than 20 meetings of experts, diplomats, etc. of the 27 member states take place each day in the Council premises).

Project Info
Architects: Samyn and Partners
Location:  Bruxelles, Belgium
Architect in Charge: Ir Johan Burgers
Area: 53815.0 m2
Year: 2016
Type: Office Building
Photographs: Marie-Françoise Plissart, Courtesy of Georges Meurant, European Union, Thierry Henrard, Jacques Ceyssens, Quentin Olbrechts