Willy Brandt building

Geschiedenis

The Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union.It consists of a number of buildings, primarily the oldest, the Paul-Henri Spaak building, which houses the debating chamber and the President's offices, and the Altiero Spinelli building which is the largest. The buildings are located in the European quarter in the east of Brussels, with building starting in 1989.The complex is not the official seat of Parliament, which is the Immeuble Louise Weiss in Strasbourg, France, but as most of the other institutions of the European Union are in Brussels, Parliament built the Brussels complex to be closer to their activities. A majority of the Parliament's work is now geared to its Brussels site, but it is legally bound to keep Strasbourg as its official home.HistoryDue to the failure of leaders to agree on a single seat, the Parliament desired full infrastructure in both Brussels and Strasbourg, where the parliament's official seat is located. In Brussels an international congress centre (unofficially intended as the Parliament) was built with the backing of the Generale Maatschappij/Société Générale and BACOB who joined forces on the project in 1987. The project was built on an old brewery and marshalling yard including the covering of the Luxembourg railway station to form a pedestrian area. The building project started before 1988 with building work on the hemicycle and the north wing starting in 1989 and the south wing in 1992.