Brussels’ European Quarter seeks to lessen ‘brutal’ urban footprint
By France24
09 December 2021 |
12:41 pm
The main European institutions have been based in Brussels for decades. But despite adding dynamism, they still don't seem to have found their place in the city they call home. The European Quarter is often viewed as a separate area; cold and cut off from the world. Now a handful of residents are fighting to bring the neighbourhood back to life and make the institutions part of a vibrant Brussels that's in touch with its citizens. The rise of teleworking, adapted en masse since the pandemic, could give them a helping hand. The Commission is looking to reduce its office space in the city from the current 780,000 m² to 580,000 m². Our correspondents report.
Related
Related
7 Jun
The US PGA Tour and European DP World Tour will merge with Saudi-funded LIV Golf after a two-year rift. LIV threatened to usurp the established series, which seem to have opted for consolidation over competition.
17 Jun
EU states have agreed long-stalled reforms to migration and asylum rules. Critics say Europe is shirking responsibility.
17 Jun
Back in the 1960s, the Soviets and Americans were racing to the Moon. Europe did not want to be a bystander in the space race and embarked on the Ariane programme in 1973. We take a look back at how the Europeans launched their space programme. Today, the Ariane-6 rocket's inaugural flight is running three years behind schedule. The European Space Agency hopes it can take off by the end of 2023.
15 Jun
FIFA had been holding out for more money from several major European free-to-air broadcasters, threatening not to sell broadcast rights to the competition at all. The news comes just weeks before kickoff.
20 Jun
Kenya is a major exporter of food and drink products, with around 20% of its overall exports sent to the EU. The deal was just seven months in the making, thus becoming one of the fastest Brussels has ever struck.
21 Jun
Several companies at the Paris Air Show are presenting advanced prototypes of air taxis that could offer an alternative means of inner city transport. One of them, German group Volocopter, is aiming to get its aircraft up and running for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Also in the show, we look ahead to the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact that's taking place in Paris later this week. World leaders will be convening to discuss changes to the global financial system in order to better respond to the climate emergency.
28 Jun
The next few weeks bring the start of the summer holidays, complete with traffic jams and crowded airports. The German tourism industry is responding to climate concerns.
30 Jun
Vietnam's reputation as Asia's brightest investment hub is being called into question as its economic growth slows and industrial zones face power blackouts.
6 Jul
Fresh figures have shown the extent of the European Union's efforts to reduce its energy dependency on Russia, with Moscow accounting for just 3 percent of the bloc's oil imports in the first quarter of this year, compared to 26 percent during the same period in 2022. The EU has also moved away from Russian natural gas, relying more heavily on Norway, the UK and Algeria. This comes as the decline in Moscow's export revenues weakens its currency.
15 Jul
On July 12, the landmark Nature Restoration Law was adopted in a cliffhanger vote at the European Parliament. Our guest, prominent Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala – who's one the parliament's vice-presidents – says she is "relieved" that the EU parliament now has a position to negotiate with the member states. She applauds the law as "step towards combating climate change", and decries what she calls the use of "fake news and disinformation" by far-right as well as right-wing parties on the nature restoration issue.
28 Jul
Members of an "Islamic State" terror cell were on trial for their role in the 2016 subway and airport bombings in Brussels. The verdict concludes the largest trial in Belgium's history.
3 Aug
As the first few hundred French and European nationals are evacuated from coup-hit Niger, the military governments of Mali and Burkina Faso say any foreign armed intervention in Niamey will be treated as a declaration of war against them all. Also, two protesters are killed in demonstrations that erupted in Senegal after opposition figure Ousmane Sonko was jailed on Monday.
Latest
1 day ago
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.
1 day ago
After decades out of fashion, a declaration to triple nuclear capacity at UN climate talks suggests a revival. Some say it's necessary to help curb emissions, others call it a needless distraction.
1 day ago
The nationwide strike will likely cause thousands of cancellations and begins at 21:00 GMT on Thursday until the same time on Friday evening.
1 day ago
A woman who was forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) as a young child in her native Somalia has told FRANCE 24 how she managed to turn her life around and transform her horrific experience into a force for good. Shamsa Araweelo has received around 70 million views of her TikTok videos, in which she explains using rubber models exactly what FGM does to a woman.
1 day ago
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is heightening the terror risk in the EU, according to the bloc's home affairs commissioner. The warning comes after a German tourist was killed in a knife attack in Paris.
×

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.