The European Bubble in Brussels
The dynamics and tensions of a world within a world
According to the World Migration Report (2020), Belgium is the 4th biggest melting pot of nationalities, with 17.2% of its population being foreign-born. Its capital, Brussels is undoubtedly a cosmopolitan city where nationality disappears, and in its place, humanity appears. With this socioculturally and socioeconomically diverse city of approximately 1.2 million inhabitants, comprising 70% of foreign-borns, comes many challenges and opportunities as with other global cities. One of the latter is that Brussels has managed to cement a reputation as being an international stronghold, headquartering a large share of the European Union's institutions such as the Parliament, Commission, Economic and Social Committe, Committee of the Regions in the Leopold district but equally other organizations like NATO. Naturally, this also comes with a tremendous number of challenges, as the ever-growing European bubble opens a new rift in the social strata, mutating the urban landscape and creating tensions by dividing the inhabitants of Brussels into two classes: the Belgians and the Europeans.
“I cannot concede Brussels, My government would be overthrown tomorrow," said Paul van Zeeland, Belgium’s foreign minister in July 1952, after the European Coal and Steel Community had been created, in reference to the debate as to the location of the first meeting.
Nevertheless, Brussels soon became the de facto capital of the EU, at first temporarily housing institutions, until becoming permanent. By 1992, a meeting of the Council in Edinbrough reaffirmed Brussels' role as headquartering a part of the Parliament, the Commission and the Council.
Today, these institutions are located in the so-called Leopold or European district of Brussels. It is an area encompassing Leopold Park, Cinquantenaire Park and Brussels Park, where an estimated 38000-41000 people are employed at the EU. institutions. In total, the area accounts for 13-14% of employment in Brussels, international organizations included . In addition, this office-oriented center of 700,000 m2 is also a breeding ground for lobbysts, journalists and diplomats, due to the positive multiplier effect.
According to the latest figures, 110,000 individuals have settled in Brussels to abet the work of the European and international institutions. They are concentrated in Brussels, close to their workplaces, as 70% of those employed in these institutions live in Brussels, which in turn also influences the housing market.
This model of globalization and development, however, begets exclusion, creating a two-tier society and resulting in societal tensions.
Colloquially described, some Belgians are disillusioned with the city's international status and feel that it is a burden in their lives, seeing the institutions bequethed with post-modernist architecture as cold and tasteless, as they lack a unifying sociocultural image. The employees of the institutions have acquired a stereotype of being "Eurocrats", who are considered to be arrogant and distant from the people. Beneath the surface of this superficial divide lies serious mechanisms of separation. The international district seems to have formed its own socioeconomically closed-off world, which does not intermix with the rest of the population, and vice-versa. This has serious social, economic and political ramifications, and unless both parties agree to an integrated plan for rethinking their relationship, tensions will only worsen.
There are three main reasons for mutual disdain. Firstly, opportunities afforded to those in the bubble may not be available to others, and as such local Belgian institutions (e.g. European Schools) feel discriminated vis-a-vis their European counterparts. This isolation also extends to participation in the decision-making process, where, for example, expats are said to be unwilling to engage in local politics and social events, and similarly Belgians feel unheard by the Europeans. In addition, there are serious ramifications to the housing market, namely the price hikes over the last few decades due to the sprawl of the institutions and those employed there. Finally, there are also historical reasons for friction between the two worlds of Belgium and the Belgian mini-Europe, as the construction of the European institutions from the 1960s onwards meant the demolishing of houses and reduced living space for locals.
The current structure of the split city of Brussels is problematic to local residents. The structure of the economy around the European jobs favours a minority of people, who are, while being cosmpolitan and community-minded, politically apathetic in relation to local matters and socially isolated.
This part of the population are commuters, and live in many areas of Brussels, such as around Luxembourg, Schuman and in Uccle. This had led to a sort of gentrification, pushing out middle-class Belgians towards peripheral regions as the cost of rent sykrocketed over the past years. The price hike is attributed mainly to proprietors, who have geared their houses for the socioeconomically wealthier and ever-growing number of expats over the years.
While in the European Quarter, those employed at the institutions benefit from their own bubble - including housing, cafes, schools, their own social network etc. - the locals have seen a rise of 38% in accommodation prices from 2009 to 2019.
At the same time, social inequality has risen, driven also by the EU's monopolization of the working languages and thus the barriers to the EU job market for many people (85% of the capitals' inhabitants are French-speaking, but the EU institutions often demand Dutch and English as well; only 15.7% of civil servants are Belgians). Just next to the Parlament's site, the homeless gather under the Gare de Luxembourg's covers.
Among the 19 communes of Brussels, the gap between the rich and the poor is worringly wide, with, for example, the median income of Saint-Josse being 14 884€ while those in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre earn on average €25,280 per annum. Especially with the COVID-19 crisis, the issue is set to worsen.
The European Schools were created in 1953 to provide the children of European officials with the same education they would get in their home countries, while nurturing a European identity. They provide the prestigious European Baccalaureate as their leaving certificates.
Among local journalists, there is often dislike towards the European Schools, seen as an elite school for the children of the Eurocrats - who are exempted from paying the federal income tax, which exacerbates tensions. A researcher at the Catholic University of Louvan has described the schools as an 'apartheid regime', as its cost of over 10000€ for non-EU families makes it difficult to access for Belgians.
It is one example of the institutional divide between the 'Bruxellois' and the international community of Brussels.
In the 1960s, the Berlaymont, the Commission's headquarters was built in the Leopold district. For this, the local authorities forcibly expulsed locals and razed many homes to the ground, igniting the flames of the conflict.
In 2008, the so-called Urban Loi project was signed by regional authorities, which seems to threaten flaring up tensions even more. It has been described as urban sprawl, as it seeks to install, for example, "office space for more than 5,250 people". (POLITICO).
Since then, there seems to be an unhealable divide. However, not all is lost, and many are trying to renergize the lost synergies between the two stakeholders of Brussels.
The ultimate goal of the leaders of Brussels should therefore be to reconnect the Belgians with the European community and to shake off the latter's dissilluisonment with the former while integrating the former into the latter's community, so that Brussels becomes not just a multicultural, but intercultural city as well. The solution is to transform Brussels into a cooperative city, in which Europeans and Belgians, and of course other foreign nationalities co-exist and partake in the governance of the city.
For this, there are many initiatives, such as the "1 Bru, 1 Vote" program, which calls for non-Belgian citizens to be able to vote in Brussels' regional elections, solving the lack of involvement of expats in the local decision making process on the political sphere. In addition, there are also sociocultural projects, such as the "Brussels Meets Europe" weekly meet-ups in Leopold park (funded in part by the local government of Belgium, the Brussels-Capital Region), which aims to encourage for social interaction. In addition, to bring the achievements of the European Union into public knowledge (education and awareness to combat the spread of misinformation), the Museum of European History was created in December 2017, situated in the middle of the Leopold Park. Naturally, to solve the housing crisis, there are plans to create social housing in the international district; many companies, like RenovActive, are involved in such projects. By 2030, a journal article by the Brussels Studies Institute estimates that Brussels will need approx. 40000 new housing units and suggests that some of these be social housing to accommodate those in need. Finally, another idea is essentially to create a sort of ERASMUS-type partnership between the national schools and the European Schools, whereby students are exchanged from the schools, so as to heal the social divide in question. As such, it can be seen that there are many initiatives, all that is needed is political will to carry them out, and to rekindle the flames of Europe within Brussels, for each and for all.
Source: Brussels Meets Europe/Facebook
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