The Kortenberg building is an office building of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It houses mostly bodies related to the

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

(CSDP).

History

The building was constructed in 1977 for an insurance company. That use of the building started after the establishment of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), the precursor of the

, in the early 2000s under the auspices of

High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga CYC (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary Gener ...

, who stated on several occasions the need to build a "strong in-house strategic culture". Before, during the decade of the 90s and the late 80s, the building was used by the DG IV of the European Commission (Competition). Most of the newly-established

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

(EEAS) has been in the

Triangle building The seat of the European External Action Service (initially referred to as The Capital, and thereafter sometimes the Triangle building) is the office building on the Robert Schuman Roundabout in the heart of the European Quarter of Brussels, Bel ...

, at the

Robert Schuman Roundabout The Robert Schuman Roundabout (; ), sometimes called Robert Schuman Square, is a roundabout in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. It lies at the end of the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and serves as a focus for major institutions of the E ...

, since 2012, but for security reasons, CSDP departments have been unable to move to the building, which is away.

Architecture

The

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

L-shaped building was designed by the architectural firm ARCHI + I. It is located at the corner of the /. Towards the /, there are eight floors, the last of which is set back; towards the Rue Le Titien, four floors are surmounted by the glass roof of the auditorium. Windows with aluminum frames forming a glass base on the first two levels; then going up level by level in a staircase to reach the top of the building on the Rue Le Titien side; the glass roof then describes a slope up to the height of the neighboring houses. The rest of the façades are in red Indian granite: granite of the base and the blind bay towards the Rue Le Titien unpolished; disc patterns under the unpolished windows also. Entrance of modest size between two colossal stainless steel columns rising to the full height of the building and appearing to cross the granite blocks. Rear façade alternating bands of red and brown bricks. The interior consists of modest offices around central corridors and an indoor garden.

CSDP tenants

Part of the

(EEAS): *

European Union Military Staff The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the ...

(EUMS), including its Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) * Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) * Joint Support Coordination Cell (JSCC) *

Crisis Management and Planning Directorate The Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD) was a body within the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that was in charge of the integrated civilian-military planning within the sphere of the Common Security and Defence P ...

(CMPD) CSDP agencies outside the EEAS: *

European Defence Agency The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Represent ...

(EDA) *

European Union Satellite Centre The European Union Satellite Centre (EU SatCen; previously EUSC) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that supports the EU's decision-making in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including crisis management missi ...

(SatCen) The MPCC, the JSCC and the CPCC together form the permanent military and civilian strategic level facilities in the EU command-and-control structure.

References

External links

The European Union and Military Force: Governance and Strategy
Military of the European Union European quarter of Brussels Buildings of the European External Action Service Buildings and structures in Brussels {{EU-stub

History

Architecture

CSDP tenants

See also

References

External links