Communities The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union's financing institution, and Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat (BCEE) are set to finance the planned renovation and extension of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg, a project costed at EUR 343 million (as envisaged in the Law of 18/7/2002). The loan agreements were signed on 18 December in Luxembourg by Mr Raymond Kirsch, CEO of BCEE, Mr Jean-Claude Finck, Assistant Managing Director, and Mr Philippe Maystadt, President of the EIB, in the presence of Ms Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Minister of Public Works and Mr Luc Frieden, Minister for the Treasury and Budget.
The Court of Justice of the European Communities is an institutional pillar of the European Union. Created in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), its seat has always been in Luxembourg and will remain there permanently pursuant to the decisions of the Edinburgh European Council (1992) on the location of the EU institutions. The Court of Justice has expanded with the development of the European Communities and has already extended its premises on a number of occasions in the past, most recently in 1994. As far back as 1986, the EIB granted a loan of EUR 18.2 million (LUF 800 million) to extend the Court's buildings on the Kirchberg plateau.
The Court of Justice must now contend with the enlargement of the EU to 25 countries, which will require increased office space for the future new members and their staff, as well as greater courtroom capacity to deal with the growing number of cases submitted. This is why it was decided to renovate the Palais building and undertake the Court's fourth extension works.
This project was designed by the French architect Dominique Perrault and is being implemented under the supervision of the Public Works Ministry of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Court of Justice. Works on the four-building complex will more specifically involve the refurbishment of the main building and construction of a ring-shaped structure encircling the main building (which will accommodate the judges and advocates general) as well as two adjacent 100m high towers in which the translation departments will be housed. The complex will be linked by passageways, to which an underground car park will be added. The project, which began with the removal of asbestos from the existing buildings and initial excavation works, is scheduled for completion in 2007.