BELGIUM: BRUSSELS: EU BUREAUCRACY IS AFFECTING CITY
265 بار بازدید -
9 سال پیش
-
(3 Feb 1997) French/Flemish/Nat
(3 Feb 1997) French/Flemish/Nat
Brussels may have grown rich off the European Union, but many of the inhabitants of the Belgian capital are fed up with the giant E-U bureaucracy mushrooming in their city.
Swathes of the centre of a once vibrant and historic city have been swallowed up by E- U office buildings.
And generous Euro-expense accounts have sent prices soaring.
APTV went in search of the alter-ego of what many Europeans consider the gravy-train capital of their content.
It might look like Sarajevo or Mostar, but it's actually central Brussels.
Row upon row of buildings in the shadow of the E-U complex have been abandoned and left to rot.
The E-U may have brought prosperity to this formerly modest European capital, but it's also destroyed much of once made it unique.
Since European bureaucrats moved here 35 years ago their institutions have steadily grown, nibbling away at the city around them.
What's left is an urban disaster where office blocks have swallowed up vast tracks of the historic centre.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"This desolate area you see behind me, was inhabited until the beginning of the seventies. And all the residents have been expelled out of their houses. Since then nothing has been changed. It's still a desolate site. An all this happened in order to install the European infrastructure."
SUPERCAPTION: Christine Goyens, Jourdan Residents Association representative
All around the European district real estate speculation and planning mistakes have created a wasteland of abandoned buildings and construction sites.
Historic buildings are crumbling away and most of the original residents of this once vibrant neighbourhood have moved out.
The few that remain are bitter at the destruction they've witnessed.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"And suddenly, everything degenerated when they started constructing the EU buildings. And off course at once the character of the neighbourhood changed and became what it's like now, nearly abandoned."
SUPERCAPTION: Andre Merlin, resident of Brussels' European district since 1952
The lively and artistic Leopold district is an increasingly distant memory, buried today beneath the reinforced concrete of the European Parliament.
After six o'clock each evening all life leaves these streets as Euro-bureaucrats hurry back to their homes in the suburbs.
E-U civil servants and members of parliament are finally waking up to the damage the European bureaucracy has done in Brussels.
SOUNDBITE: (Flemish)
"One cannot say that the installation of the European institutions in Brussels happened with much respect for the people who lived and worked here long before. And the least we can do now is to limit the damage already done and try to improve the relations
with the original residents. That's all left to do now, although I should say that a lot happened already that harmed those residents and the city itself".
SUPERCAPTION: Philippe Decoene, Belgian MEP
Everyone agrees on the need for urgent action to avoid further urban desertification.
But with East European states knocking at the E-U's door, Brussels is bracing itself for a fresh invasion of European bureaucrats, each of them demanding their own offices and parking lots.
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Brussels may have grown rich off the European Union, but many of the inhabitants of the Belgian capital are fed up with the giant E-U bureaucracy mushrooming in their city.
Swathes of the centre of a once vibrant and historic city have been swallowed up by E- U office buildings.
And generous Euro-expense accounts have sent prices soaring.
APTV went in search of the alter-ego of what many Europeans consider the gravy-train capital of their content.
It might look like Sarajevo or Mostar, but it's actually central Brussels.
Row upon row of buildings in the shadow of the E-U complex have been abandoned and left to rot.
The E-U may have brought prosperity to this formerly modest European capital, but it's also destroyed much of once made it unique.
Since European bureaucrats moved here 35 years ago their institutions have steadily grown, nibbling away at the city around them.
What's left is an urban disaster where office blocks have swallowed up vast tracks of the historic centre.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"This desolate area you see behind me, was inhabited until the beginning of the seventies. And all the residents have been expelled out of their houses. Since then nothing has been changed. It's still a desolate site. An all this happened in order to install the European infrastructure."
SUPERCAPTION: Christine Goyens, Jourdan Residents Association representative
All around the European district real estate speculation and planning mistakes have created a wasteland of abandoned buildings and construction sites.
Historic buildings are crumbling away and most of the original residents of this once vibrant neighbourhood have moved out.
The few that remain are bitter at the destruction they've witnessed.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"And suddenly, everything degenerated when they started constructing the EU buildings. And off course at once the character of the neighbourhood changed and became what it's like now, nearly abandoned."
SUPERCAPTION: Andre Merlin, resident of Brussels' European district since 1952
The lively and artistic Leopold district is an increasingly distant memory, buried today beneath the reinforced concrete of the European Parliament.
After six o'clock each evening all life leaves these streets as Euro-bureaucrats hurry back to their homes in the suburbs.
E-U civil servants and members of parliament are finally waking up to the damage the European bureaucracy has done in Brussels.
SOUNDBITE: (Flemish)
"One cannot say that the installation of the European institutions in Brussels happened with much respect for the people who lived and worked here long before. And the least we can do now is to limit the damage already done and try to improve the relations
with the original residents. That's all left to do now, although I should say that a lot happened already that harmed those residents and the city itself".
SUPERCAPTION: Philippe Decoene, Belgian MEP
Everyone agrees on the need for urgent action to avoid further urban desertification.
But with East European states knocking at the E-U's door, Brussels is bracing itself for a fresh invasion of European bureaucrats, each of them demanding their own offices and parking lots.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: Twitter: AP_Archive
Facebook: Facebook: APArchives
Instagram: Instagram: APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
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