The size and features of the hub — the cost of which forms part of the €49 million — suggest it would be designed as a chamber to host the institution’s 329 members for their plenary sessions, which are held up to six times a year.
According to the documents, the hub would include booths for interpreters, VIP areas and press facilities. The documents say it would provide “autonomy from European Parliament and European Commission buildings,” as Committee of the Regions plenary sessions are currently held in the Parliament or in the Commission’s Charlemagne building.
Staff and unions say the plans have not been transparent enough. An official at an EU staff union, granted anonymity to speak freely, described the project as “this megalomaniac plan.”
A Committee of the Regions press officer said leadership had prepared and shared details of the hub with the Commission for Financial and Administrative Affairs — which deals with admin and budgets at the Committee — and had discussed it with the staff committee on March 25, the same day that POLITICO contacted the institution for comment.
Renovation plans
On Tuesday, the Committee’s leadership will decide whether to proceed with plans to demolish the two lower floors and the interior courtyard of the Bertha von Suttner building (named after the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize), which is located next to the European Parliament, as well as an adjoining building (Remorqueur, or REM).
A report called Building Strategy suggests the space could generate revenue by being rented out to other EU institutions, at rates of up to €1,400 per half-day. Combined with estimated annual savings of €272,000 as there would no longer be a need to rent out other spaces, total income and savings from the hub are projected to reach €15.47 million over 17 years.
