In seinen Erinnerungen schreibt Jean Monnet über die Gründe, die zur Entscheidung für Luxemburg als Sitz der Organe der EGKS führten.

Extract from the Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Paris on 6 and 7 January 1958, on the provisional location of the institutional seats.

European Parliamentary Assembly Resolution, of 21 June 1958, on the seat of the institutions.

European Parliamentary Assembly debates, of 23 June 1958, on the choice of location for the European institutions.

Decision of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States on the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities. In a meeting held on 8 April 1965 in Brussels, the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States decided to provisionally locate the institutions and other bodies of the European Communities in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg.

Decision of 12 December 1992 taken by common agreement between the representatives of the governments of the Member States on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities.

Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community by the Treaty of Amsterdam of 2 October 1997.

During its first two years, the ECSC Special Council of Ministers holds its meetings in the Luxembourg City Hall. Its inaugural meeting is held on 8 September 1952. View of the main entrance hall.

During its first two years, the ECSC Special Council of Ministers holds its meetings in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies, including, in particular, its first meeting on 9 and 10 September 1952. View of the main entrance.

From 1952 to 1967, the ECSC Special Council of Ministers holds its meetings in the Cercle Municipal situated on the Place d'Armes, Luxembourg.

From September 1952 to May 1953, the offices of the Secretariat of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers are located in the building situated at 5 Avenue de la Liberté in Luxembourg.

From June 1953 to mid-April 1955, the offices of the Secretariat of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers are located in the building situated at 21 Avenue de la Porte Neuve in Luxembourg.

From mid-April 1955 to June 1967, the offices of the Secretariat of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers are located in the building situated at 3 Rue Auguste Lumière, Verlorenkost, in Luxembourg.

Plaque at the entrance to the ECSC Council of Ministers building in Verlorenkost, Luxembourg.

In January 1958, the Château de Val Duchesse, the premises of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom from September 1956, becomes the first official seat of the two Councils established by the Rome Treaties.

Building located at 2 Rue Ravenstein in Brussels. Seat of the Council of the European Communities from autumn 1958 to December 1971.

Charlemagne building in Brussels. Seat of the Council of the European Communities from 1971 to 1995.

Address given by Francisco Fernández Ordóñez, Spanish Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, on Tuesday 13 June 1989, to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the new Council building.

Address given by Leo Tindemans, Belgian Foreign Minister, on Tuesday 13 June 1989, to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the new Council of the European Communities building.

The foundation stone of the new building intended for the Council of the European Communities is laid on 13 June 1989 in Brussels. This building will later be named the ‘Justus Lipsius Building’.

In this interview, Norbert Schwaiger, former Head of the Press Office of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, recalls the successive relocations of the seat of the Council in Brussels.

On 29 May 1995, the new building for the Council of the European Union, the Justus Lipsius Building, is inaugurated in Brussels.

On 29 May 1995, the new building for the Council of the European Union, the Justus Lipsius Building, is inaugurated in Brussels in the presence of Hervé de Charette, French Foreign Minister.

View of the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels, seat of the Council of the European Union since May 1995.

Aerial view of the 'Justus Lipsius' building in Brussels, seat of the Council of the European Union since May 1995.

View of the main courtyard of the 'Justus Lipsius' building in Brussels, seat of the Council of the European Union.

On 27 February 2003, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union proposes to the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) that the Council’s buildings programme be updated with a view to future enlargements. This information note sets out the required conversion work on existing buildings as well as possible construction projects required to meet the requirements connected with the forthcoming enlargements.

On 24 November 2003, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union informs the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) that the draft text of the official deed of assignment of the Justus Lipsius Building has been finalised and that it should be signed before the end of 2003.

Press release from the Council of the European Union, published the day after the signing, on 17 December 2003, of the deed of transfer of the Justus Lipsius Building from the Belgian State to the Council. The press release includes historical and technical data concerning the building.

On 16 June 2006, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union forwards an information note to the delegations of the Member States on the Council’s property programme. This note gives an overview of the surface areas of the various buildings which the Council owns or rents and of current construction or fitting-out projects.

In a letter dated 17 January 1965, Émile Noël, Executive Secretary of the Commission of the European Economic Community (CEE), suggests to Walter Hallstein, President of the EEC Commission, that, in the Commission proposal on the number of Council meetings to be held in Luxembourg, no more than 12 meetings per year be held.

Since 1967, the Council of the European Communities holds its April, June and October meetings in Luxembourg, in the Kirchberg European Centre, the construction of which began in 1964.

Conference centre in the Tower Building in Kirchberg, Luxembourg. Since 1967, the Council holds its April, June and October meetings in this building.

View of the main entrance of the Kirchberg Conference Centre in Luxembourg. Since 1967, the Council holds its April, June and October meetings in this building.

In an article published on 2 October 2003, the Luxembourg newspaper Le Quotidien reports that, from Monday 6 October, because of the renovation work being carried out on the conference centre in the Tower Building in Kirchberg, the Kiem Conference Centre, in the Kirchberg district in Luxembourg, will host meetings of the Council of the European Union.

In an article published on 28 December 2004, one week before the launch of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the daily newspaper La Voix du Luxembourg describes the Kiem Centre as being the main venue for the holding of Council meetings in Luxembourg.

During renovation work on the Kirchberg Conference Centre and from 1 October 2003, the Council holds its April, June and October meetings in the Kiem Conference Centre in Luxembourg.