Brussels and The European Union - Demography and Economic Impact

Demography and Economic Impact

The EU presence in Brussels has created significant social and economic impact. Jean-Luc Vanraes, member of the Brussel parliament responsible for the city's external relations, goes as far to say the prosperity of Brussels "is a consequence of the European presence". As well as the institutions themselves, large companies are drawn to the city due to the EU presence. In total about 10% of the city has a connection to the international community.

46% of the population of Brussels are from outside Belgium; of these, half are from other EU member states. About 3/5 of European Civil Servants live in the Brussels Capital Region with 63% in the communes around the European district (24% in the Flemish region to the north and 11% in the Walloon region to the south). Half of civil servants are home owners. The institutions draw in, directly employed and employed by representatives, 50,000 people to work in the city. A further 20,000 people are working in Brussels due to the presence of the institutions (generating €2 billion a year) and 2000 foreign companies drawn into the city employ 80,000 multilingual locals.

In Brussels, there are 3.5 million square meters of occupied office space; half of this is taken up by the EU institutions alone, accounting for a quarter of available office space in the city. The majority of EU office space is concentrated in the Leopold quarter. Running costs of the EU institutions total €2 billion a year, half of which benefit Brussels directly, and a further €0.8 come from the expenses of diplomats, journalists etc. Business tourism in the city generates 2.2 million annual hotel room nights. There are thirty international schools (15,000 pupils run by 2000 employees) costing €99 million a year.

However there is considerable division between the two communities, with local Brussels residents feeling excluded from the EU quarter (a "white collar ghetto"). The communities often do not mix much, with expats having their own society. This is in part down to that many expat in Brussels stay for short periods only and do not always learn the local languages (supplanted by English/Globish), remaining in expat communities and sending their children to European schools, rather than local Belgian ones.