History of the buildings

The Court’s early years in Luxembourg

In 1952, while the cities of Liège and Brussels were being considered as possible locations for the institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Luxembourg was chosen as the provisional seat. The locations of the EU institutions were officially decided at the Edinburgh Council in 1992, when Luxembourg became the permanent location for the Court of Justice.

That same year, the Luxembourg Government provided the Court with Villa Vauban, a building in the middle of Luxembourg City’s Municipal Park along with two other buildings, to accommodate its 57 staff members.

In 1959, the Luxembourg Government offered the Court a larger building on Côte d’Eich, owned by the Bishopric of Luxembourg. This new space was big enough to house all of the Court’s services under one roof.

Move to the Kirchberg Plateau

As the European Communities expanded – particularly in view of the first enlargement planned for 1973 – the number of staff at the EU institutions increased. This led Luxembourg to develop the Kirchberg Plateau, in order to accommodate all the institutions in one place. The Court’s permanent buildings were also constructed there.

Therefore, in 1972, the Court’s 223 staff members moved into the The Palais, which was built especially for it on the Kirchberg Plateau by the Luxembourg State. Designed by Belgian architects Jamagne and Vander Elst, alongside Luxembourg architect Conzemius, the Palais was officially inaugurated on 9 January 1973. The Palais finally provided a purpose-built workspace for the Court’s Members and staff.

New annexes to the Palais

By the late 1970s, the increase in the Court’s growing staff had led to overcrowding, forcing it to rent offices in other EU buildings. The Court’s needs grew further with the accession of the new Member States – Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), Austria, Finland, and Sweden (1995) – and the creation of the Court of First Instance (1989). The number of staff rose from 626 in 1988 to 837 in 1994.

To address this, three annexes to the Palais were built between 1985 and 1994. Designed by Luxembourg architects Fritsch, Herr and Huyberechts, alongside Italian architect Paczowski, these were

• the Erasmus building, inaugurated 5 October 1988
• the Thomas More building, inaugurated 12 February 1993
• the Themis building, inaugurated 15 September 1994

The presence of asbestos in the Palais led to its evacuation in 1999, forcing the Court to relocate its staff once again. A temporary prefabricated structure, known as the “T Building”, was set up to house the language services from 1999 to 2019.

Major expansion and renovation

Alongside the asbestos removal work on the Palais, and faced with the needs arising from the wide-ranging enlargement planned for 2004, the Court and the Luxembourg authorities launched an ambitious construction project.

This new project coincided with a change in the EU’s policy regarding its buildings: instead of relying on host countries to provide buildings – as the EU institutions had done up to that point – the EU institutions were now expected to own their premises. The Court therefore adopted a lease-purchase system to take control of its buildings.

At the request of the Luxembourg authorities, French architect Dominique Perrault designed a modern complex, centred around a renovated Palais and a space open to the public where the courtrooms are now located. Other key features included

• a rectangular “ring” (Anneau) for the offices of the Members of the Court of Justice
• two new towers to accommodate the Court’s various services
• a Gallery connecting all the buildings

Construction began in late 2003. On 1 May 2004, 10 new Member States joined the EU, and with the influx of new staff, another building outside the complex was temporarily leased. An extension of the T Building, known as the “T2”, accommodated the lawyer linguists from the new Member States.

By 4 December 2008, the renovated The Palais, the The Anneau, the Gallery and two towers – Comenius and Montesquieu– were completed and inaugurated. The Court’s surface area more than doubled from 85 000 m² to 200 000 m². The number of courtrooms increased from 5 to 11, and the number of offices expanded from 1 000 to 2 200.

This expansion allowed for the renovation of the Erasmus, Thomas More and Themis buildings, which were reoccupied in 2013.

The Rocca Tower: a new era for the Court

The EU’s enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria (2007) and Croatia (2013) led to a rise in the Court’s workload, as well as an increase in its judges and staff. This included three new Advocates General (2015) and a gradual doubling of the Members of the General Court from 2016 onwards.

In order to accommodate this growth, construction work began on a third tower in spring of 2016.

Standing at 29 floors and 118 metres, the Rocca Tower is the tallest building in Luxembourg.

Its inauguration in September 2019 marked a significant milestone in the history of the Court, as it brought all of the Court’s services back together under one roof.