Brussels' Schuman Square, intended as a grand "urban agora" and a "symbol that beats as the heart… of the European project," remains a barren concrete expanse. The planned canopy, meant to crown the redevelopment, was never built. This failure, after years of planning and significant public investment, highlights the profound governance issues plaguing the European capital and the true cost of EU-driven projects.
Pascal Smet, a former Brussels minister for mobility who launched the project 11 years ago in 2015, expressed his deep disappointment. He described himself as "disappointed, angry and sad" about the outcome, emphasizing that Schuman Square is the "carte de visite" of Brussels and a symbol for Europe. Engineer-architect Francis De Wolf stated plainly, "The project is not finished," indicating a fundamental breakdown in execution.
The Cost of EU Overreach
The project faced inherent difficulties from the start, sitting atop an underground car tunnel, railway, metro station, and a complex network of gas and water pipelines. Planners also had to contend with the stringent security needs of the surrounding EU institutions and the square's frequent use as a venue for demonstrations. The square lies within the security perimeter of the European Council building, where EU leaders regularly convene.
An international competition selected a Belgian-Danish consortium of architects to redesign the space, with the canopy envisioned as its defining feature. This structure was even modelled on the European Parliament’s semi-circular chamber, the hemicycle, a clear nod to the EU's institutional presence. Work on the square began 3 years ago in 2023, six years after the winning design had been chosen. By then, costs had already spiralled due to Europe-wide inflation, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine war, according to city officials. The budget was announced as €25 million in 2023, with a substantial €17.4 million drawn from EU Covid recovery funds.
National Shame and Local Dysfunction
The situation was further complicated by a deepening political crisis in Brussels itself. Belgium's highly decentralised power structure grants regional governments, including Brussels, extensive control over public works, transport, and urban planning. Brussels, a bilingual city of 1.2 million people, is governed by an 89-seat parliament with 14 distinct parties. Following elections 2 years ago in June 2024, the city's parties were deadlocked, unable to form a new government. This political paralysis, which saw a new coalition finally emerge this year after a record-breaking 613 days of negotiations, froze investments and put major construction projects on hold.
During this prolonged political vacuum, the caretaker government found itself in a severe bind. It could not authorise new funds to cover the canopy's escalating costs, yet it faced a critical deadline to complete the works to avoid losing the allocated EU funds. François Deschamps, a spokesperson for the Brussels minister for mobility and public works, described this as "quite a conundrum." The caretaker government appealed to the EU for additional funding 1 year ago in June 2025. However, Belgium's Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, rejected this plea, publicly denouncing Brussels as "a failed state" and labeling the act of "begging" numerous European institutions for help as a "national embarrassment."
Upon taking office this year in February 2026, the new Brussels government cancelled the canopy project entirely, as its costs had surged from an initial €5 million to €13 million. The Brussels council of ministers decided to pursue "something greener, something cheaper," according to Deschamps. The city now hopes to finish the square by the summer of 2028, in 2 years, with new plans promised by the end of the year. Despite this, Pascal Smet continues to advocate for the original canopy, with over 2,100 people signing a petition for its construction. The saga of Schuman Square stands as a stark reminder of how EU financial mechanisms and local political fragmentation can lead to costly failures, undermining public trust and national pride.