EU gets back to work, if it can get back to Brussels

Travel and logistical complications will be a factor for months to come.

The European Union has struggled to return to normal two weeks after the terrorist attacks brought Brussels to a standstill, as officials warn that travel and logistical complications will snarl government business for months to come.

The pace of operations is expected to ramp up more significantly next week with the end of the long Easter break. Spokespeople for several EU bodies said there were no plans to cancel official meetings or events — a sign that politicians and their staff will need to find creative ways to make it back to the Brussels bubble.

But it won’t be easy. Brussels National Airport in Zaventem partially reopened on April 3 at about 20 percent of its capacity, and airport officials do not expect it to resume full operations until June or July. Flights into Brussels’ Charleroi airport are far less convenient for downtown. The Brussels metro is still running on a limited schedule, meaning that local commutes are also being affected.

While many commissioners and staff live in Brussels, members of the European Parliament who went back to their home countries for the Easter break have been arriving “slowly,” according to a Parliament official. The Parliament’s car service picked up MEPs at airports as far as Amsterdam, Paris and Lille.

“MEPs were informed at the end of last week that if their flights were rerouted to other Belgian airports than Zaventem, the car service would be able to pick them up,” said Parliament spokesperson Marjory Van Den Broeke.

European People’s Party President Manfred Weber flew to Bonn, Germany, from his home in Bavaria for an event on Monday. He then traveled by car to Brussels but was trapped in traffic as he tried to make his way to Parliament. Parliament President Martin Schulz also arrived by car as he lives near the German-Belgian border.

The travel and logistical difficulties created by the attacks, as well as the still raw emotional aftermath, have become a factor in events and gatherings across Brussels.

“Every meeting has started with a moment of silence and excusing colleagues who had a hard time getting there on time,” said Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureşan. “You can notice in the Parliament people were not able to travel to their place of work normally.”

Another complication is the extra security measures at the EU buildings, which have led to longer lines and late arrivals to many meetings. Security at the Parliament was lowered to yellow, the third-highest level, after Belgian authorities dropped their security threat level from the highest of 4 to 3.

The new security measures still include random additional checks of bags and cars at entrance points, restricted entrance to car parks and early closing at 10 p.m.

Mureşan said 45 visitors from Bucharest who were coming to visit a historical exhibition he is hosting in the Parliament this week arrived five hours late on Monday because of logistical issues flying into the Maastricht airport.

“They are more worried about how they’re going to get out,” he said. “Some have been diverted to other airports for their return flights.”

In the days immediately after the March 22 attacks, many Commission events were canceled — though the College of Commissioners held its regular meeting on March 23. But business is picking up, with 139 meetings on the agenda this week. In comparison, during the week before the attacks there were 160 items on the Commission agenda.

Commission staffers were not given exemptions for absences this week, according to a Commission spokesperson. They can be reimbursed for extended travel time, she added.

“Our interpreters told me they see no change in their working patterns for this and next week, with meetings taking place as foreseen,” said Commission spokesperson Andreana Stankova.

The European Parliament has suspended meetings organized by outside groups, and has placed a limit of 100 people on visitors from outside the institution attending official events. Security officials must approve all requests for meetings involving outsiders.

Among the events canceled in the coming days was a European People’s Party conference on “Combatting sexual abuse of children on the internet,” which was planned for Wednesday. The EPP group also canceled a meeting of the “European Ideas Network” because guest speakers could not travel to Brussels by April 6.

But most official events and committee meetings in Parliament stayed on the agenda this week. Only one committee meeting on Monday, of the foreign affairs panel, was postponed until next week in Strasbourg.

As for Parliament’s monthly journey to Strasbourg for the plenary session, staffers predict tougher security controls to board the train and at the French border, although there has been no official warning.

The travel complications will have less impact on meetings of the EU Council of Ministers. Meetings in April are traditionally held in Luxembourg.

“Nothing is canceled at this point,” a Council spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Brussels tourism board reassured potential visitors to the city that it’s safe to carry on.

“There is no official statement from the Belgian authorities asking Brussels to cancel meetings, shows and events in the city,” the tourism board states on its website, adding that organizers of congresses, conferences and fairs can count on “exceptionally strong attention to their safety in the city.”

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