Editing Heysel Plateau (section)

===Potential European Quarter===
The ''Heysel Project'' was a potential [[European Union]] (EU) "quarter" development in the Heysel. As part of that project, the area surrounding the [[Atomium]] would have become, on the long term, a location for some of the [[European Commission]]'s buildings, according to a draft project developed by the [[City of Brussels]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=EU commission considers major relocation in Brussels|url=https://euobserver.com/institutional/27366|access-date=2021-03-25|website=EUobserver|date=9 January 2009 |language=en}}</ref>

The City of Brussels had previously decided to allocate this area to "infrastructures dedicated to the international vocation of Brussels" and planned to erect a convention centre of "international dimensions" with a capacity of 3,500 seats and an "important commercial centre." In January 2009, the Commission's then-spokeswoman Valerie Rampi confirmed that the EU executive was considering several proposals for a new location, with some {{convert|100,000|m²|abbr=on}} of office space. On 15 September 2008, a draft entitled "Application file for the Heysel plain to host a new European quarter" was issued.<ref name=":0" />

According to the draft project, the Heysel was to host a new branch of the [[European School]], where EU officials educate their children in their native tongues. This was made true in 2012 with the [[European School, Brussels IV]]'s move from [[Forest, Belgium|Forest]] to its purpose built campus on the plateau. The area lies on a direct subway line connecting it to [[Brussels and the European Union#European Quarter|Brussels' current European Quarter]]. The existing parking facilities, the biggest in Belgium, were also presented as a plus, as well as the planned new residential area and the proximity of parks and leisure facilities. The European Quarter would have remained the centre of the Commission's activities, but the body was also looking for "additional poles outside" this central area, in order to exert a downward pressure on real estate prices, according to [[Siim Kallas]], the EU's then-[[European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud|Commissioner for Administrative Affairs]].<ref name=":0" />