Current statusOn May 26, 2020, the competition was announced in the Official Journal of the European Commission. Deadline for introducing in applications was Thursday, July 9, 2020.

132 applications were submitted. With the assistance of external experts, the European Parliament evaluated all applications according to the criteria set out in the notice of competition and selected 15 candidates to take part in the competition.

In January 2021, the jury decided on the 15 anonymously submitted designs in the competition. At its session in July 2022, the Bureau of the European Parliament was informed in detail about the proposals made by the 15 competitors, about the selection made by the jury and about the names of the competitors and the laureates which were then announced.

The names of the competitors and the competition result can be found in the section „DISCOVER THE PROJECTS“ on this page, including movies of all projects. The opening of a public exhibition in Brussels is scheduled for beginning of 2023.
Promoter of the competitionEuropean Parliament
Rue Wiertz, 60
1047 Brussels
Belgium

represented through
Leena Maria Linnus

Director General for Infrastructure and Logistics


Aerial view Parliament Buildings from Place du Luxembourg
© European Union
ProcedureThis procedure involves a process in two steps:
The pre-qualification: an open pre-qualification procedure for the selection of competitors among candidates;
During this step, the European Parliament has shortlisted candidates (groups of architects, as lead members, together with structural engineers and environmental experts) based on objective criteria assessing their professional capacities in light of the scope of the design competition.
The design competition: a restricted international single stage design competition conducted according to the UNESCO Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town Planning and the UIA (International Union of Architects) best practice recommendations.

At the end of the pre-qualification procedure, the shortlisted candidates (hereinafter ‘the competitors’) are invited to submit their design proposals in the design competition, which will be presented to the jury responsible for evaluating and ranking them and determining the winning design proposal. The jury will submit to the European Parliament the list of prize winners and its report for further commissioning and recommendations for the further development following the competition.

Anonymity of the candidates during the assessment of the projects by the jury is fundamental and shall be guaranteed by the following rules:
(a) All documents and items submitted by the candidates for the purpose of the design competition must be submitted in an anonymous format. Details for respective requirements will be provided in the competition brief documents;
(b) An independent body is charged with taking the necessary measures to safeguard the anonymity of the candidates;
(c) The jury will be informed of entries which are not compliant with the anonymity requirements.
EndorsementThe competition is endorsed by the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). www.uia-architectes.org.



JuryThe jury comprised 11 jurors with vote:

General jurors:
Rainer Wieland, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Pedro Silva Pereira, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Rudy Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region
Bety Waknine, Head of the Brussels Planning and Heritage Regional Public Service

Architectural jurors:
Prof. Marilyne Andersen, Physicist and Environmental specialist, Lausanne, Switzerland
Kristiaan Borret, Urban planner, Government Architect of the Brussels-Capital Region
Manuelle Gautrand, Architect, Paris, France
Dorte Mandrup, Architect, Copenhagen, Denmark (UIA representative)
Carme Pigem, Architect, Olot, Spain
Kazuyo Sejima, Architect, Tokyo, Japan
Dimitri Tenezakis, Architect, Head of Luxembourg and Strasbourg Major Construction Projects Unit – DG INLO – European Parliament

Alternate general jurors:
Heidi Hautala, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Gilles Boyer, Quaestor of the European Parliament
Alain Hutchinson, Brussels Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations
Thibaut Jossart, Director at the Brussels Planning and Heritage Regional Public Service

Alternate architectural jurors:
Romain Poulles, Engineer, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Anna Przybyl, Architect, acting head of the Building Projects Unit in Strasbourg, – DG INLO – European Parliament
Prof. Volker Staab, Architect, Berlin, Germany
Lisa de Visscher, Architect, Editor in chief of A+ magazine, Brussels, Belgium (UIA representative)
Prizes and remunerationThe European Parliament provides the net amount of up to EUR 1,525,000 (in case of 15 entrants), excluding VAT for prizes and remuneration for services rendered. The total amount was determined in re-lation to the size of the project and in respect of the competition requirements. Each entrant who has participated in the design competition by submitting a complete design project in compliance with the com-petition rules will be granted a flat-rate honoraria payment in the amount of EUR 75,000, excluding VAT, against receipt of an invoice in full and final settlement, as compensation for the expenses incurred.

The jury chose five (5) winners among the submitted design concepts, and awards the following prizes, excluding VAT:

The prizes will be the following :

• 1st prize : EUR 120,000
• 2nd prize : EUR 100,000
• 3rd prize : EUR 80,000
• 4th prize : EUR 60,000
• 5th prize : EUR 40,000
ParticipantsParticipation in this competition is open on the same terms to all natural or legal persons and public entities:
• from an EU Member State;
• from a third country which has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public procurement;
• from a third country which has ratified the WTO Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA);
• from a third country which is observer to WTO Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).

Important notice for British candidates:
Economic operators established in the United Kingdom are allowed to apply for this competition and to submit a draft if they are shortlisted.
As the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union, the rules on access to public procurement and competition procedures applicable to economic operators established in third countries will apply to economic operators established in the United Kingdom.

Eligibility
Such individuals shall be eligible to participate who, on the day of the announcement of the competition and pursuant to the legal provisions of their country of residence, are entitled to use the occupational title “Architect” according and work independently. Individuals from countries where the occupational title “Architect” is not subject to statutory regulations are eligible, provided that they hold a degree or submit any other evidence of formal qualification that is recognized in the EU under 2013/55/EU (EU Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications or prove of practice).
Eligible for participation are also architect consortia formed of individuals and legal entities that include at least one person eligible according to the previous paragraph. Legal entities are only eligible in such consortia if their statutory objectives include planning activities relevant to the competition task. Legal entities and architect consortia must name a single authorized representative who will be responsible for the fulfilling of the competition requirements according to the previous paragraph. The authorized representative as well as all authors of competition entries must meet the eligibility criteria applying to competitors. Notwithstanding the designation of a single authorized representative, each member of any consortia shall be jointly and severally liable for any submission from its consortium.
As part of the application the general planner (architect) was required to form a team with an engineer for structural design and environmental expert and name these partners.

Impediments to Participation
Ineligible for participation are those who, due to their collaboration in the preparation or running of the competition or preliminary studies, might be in a favoured position or able to influence the jury’s decision, including, without limitation, members of the jury and the promoters staff, employees and other permanent collaborators of participants as well as those who were involved with it in any way, as well as their spouses, first- and second-degree relatives or in-laws, their permanent business or project partners, and the immediate superiors and staff of ineligible persons.
Ineligible for participation through a separate entry are also a competitor’s non-permanent collaborators involved with the preparation of a competition entry as well as members of consortia. Ineligible for participation are also those having a business interest in the object of the competition beyond the scope of the competition’s planning services, if this is apt to influence bidding processes for services required for the physical implementation of the competition object.

Groups of economic operators may take part in this competition.
Groups of economic operators may take part in this competition. The European Parliament may accept various legal forms of groups. If an application is submitted by a group of economic operators, the legal representative of the group must be an architect.
Pursuant to Article 6 of the Belgian Law of February 20, 1939, under which the profession of architect is incompatible with being a public or private works contractor, all public works contractors belonging to an economic group which has participated in this competition shall be excluded from participating in all public procurement procedures for works relating to the execution of the project for renewal of the Paul-Henri SPAAK building in Brussels.
Selection of competitorsSelection criteria
The purpose of the pre-qualification procedure was to shortlist the candidates who will be invited to submit their design proposals during the design competition itself. During the pre-qualification procedure, the European Parliament has ensured that the shortlisted candidates will be allowed to participate in the competition in light of the applicable rules and the scope of the competition, that they are not incurring in any of the exclusion situations as defined in the Financial Regulation (see below) and, that they have sufficient professional capacity to participate.
Provided that a sufficient number of applications has been submitted, at least 12 and at most 15 candidates were to be shortlisted to participate in the competition. All applications from candidates who are not incurring in any of the exclusion situations referred to in Article II.2.1 of this document were assessed according to the selection criteria set out below.
Legal and regulatory capacity:
The applicants must have the legal and regulatory capacity to pursue the professional activity of architect, building services engineer or structural engineer in their country of establishment. The evidence of professional qualification/admission should be uploaded on the registration platform: Evidence of registration in a chamber of architects, or a chamber of engineers in their country of establishment or, in accordance with Directive 2005/36/EU “recognition of professional qualifications” as a subsequently amended, respective records of study and/or, as the case may be, any other evidence regarding such professional qualification or proof of practice. Instructions for filling in the forms are detailed in online manual provided on the application platform. Those documents must be attached to the application file, otherwise the application will be automatically rejected.
Technical capacity:
The technical capacity of the applicant were evaluated through information regarding references carried out in the following fields:
3 project references in the professional field of architecture with a strong emphasis on environmental aspects;
1 project reference in the professional field of structural engineering applied to architecture;
1 project reference in the professional field of sustainable building applied to architecture.

In case the same references are listed for several professional fields, they will be rated independently for each professional field. For every project reference, the Online Form Step 5 must be duly filled in on the registration platform, printed, signed, scanned and uploaded Instructions for filling in the forms are detailed in an online manual provided on the application platform. This record must be attached to the application file, otherwise the application will be automatically rejected.

Evaluation process
Applications were assessed by the European Parliament, represented by a selection committee.
The selection committee is assisted by a technical committee which pre-evaluates the formal criteria and technical performance (criteria A and B1). In addition, the selection committee was advised in the evaluation of the design quality (criteria B2 and B3) by an expert jury consisting of two external architects, one engineer and two experts employed by the European Parliament.

WarningApplications were assessed based on the application file. Candidates were required to provide and send information through specific forms.
A number of supporting documents had to be attached to the application file. Further documents for the purpose of clarification may be requested by the European Parliament during the pre-selection procedure. Should candidates fail to submit the required supporting documents with their application file or fail to send the supporting documents requested by the European Parliament throughout the procedure within the set deadline, or should the documents submitted not be in accordance with their declarations, applications may have been rejected. Candidates should note that certain documents and/or evidence must be attached to the application file, otherwise it will be automatically rejected. Those documents and/or evidence are specified below.
Exclusion criteriaThis procedure is subject to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 18, 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (hereinafter ‘the Financial Regulation’). Participants in any of the situations described in Articles 136 and 141 of the Financial Regulation will either be excluded from participating in the competition or prevented from being declared the successful candidate.
The full text of Articles 136 and 141 of the Financial Regulation is set out in the Official Journal of the European Union (L 193 of July 30, 2018).
Declarations on honour on exclusion criteria should be duly filled in as integral part of the online form on the registration platform, printed, signed, scanned and uploaded. Without the declarations on honour the application will be automatically rejected.
Instructions for filling in the online form are detailed in an online manual provided on the application platform.

ConsequencesConsequences of participating in the pre-qualification and competition:
Participation in this competition implies acceptance by the candidate of the conditions set out in the following documents:
• the official announcement of competition in TED;
• the invitation to the competition (annex – part 1 to the announcement);
• the project description (annex – part 2 to the announcement);
• the web platform user guide (annex – part 4 to the announcement);
• the matrix for the evaluation of references (annex – part 5 to the announcement);
• Explanations on the Matrix with criteria and rating for the evaluation of reference projects (annex – part 6 to the announcement).
Expenses incurred in connection with participating in the prequalification will be borne by candidates and cannot be reimbursed.
Follow-up to applications will entail registration and processing of personal data (e.g. name, address).
Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2018/1725 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (See also II.1.9.).
In participating in the competition, candidates acknowledge that they bear sole liability in the event of an appeal relating to activities carried out during the competition. Competitors will accept the obligations stipulated in Article 129 of the Financial Regulation (Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 18, 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union).
Further processingThe jury will submit the list of prize-winners and its report to the European Parliament, including the individual critiques for each proposal for further commissioning as well as eventual recommendations for developing the project following the competition.
The European Parliament will decide whether to implement the project on the basis of the jury’s report. In the event of a favourable decision, the European Parliament will initiate a negotiated procedure for award-ing a service contract regarding the general design services and will negotiate with the winning team.
European law shall apply to this contract, in particular the financial regulation (CE, Euratom 2018/1046) and the European Parliament’s general conditions of contract, complemented by Belgian law.
This service contract shall cover architectural, structural engineering and environmental expertise (key competences), as well as any other expertise required to ensure the project’s proper delivery. The scope of the services provided shall in principle cover all design and delivery phases, providing that the project is carried out and the planned budget is adhered to.
Irrespective of the type of contractual procedure chosen by the European Parliament to carry out the works, the author or co-authors of the project shall have an independent and leading role throughout the design process.
The winning team invited to the negotiated procedure must be the same as during the design competition, as any change in the composition of its structure is strictly prohibited. However, it may take any legal form it deems necessary for the proper delivery of the project and may supplement its team with subcontractors of its choice in accordance with the Financial Regulation of the European Union.
The working languages for the performance of the contract will be French and English.
No detailed fee proposal will be requested from the entrants during the competition. However, for purpos-es of analysis and subsequent negotiation of the service contract with the prizewinning-author-team, the price list for architectural services provided by the Belgian Order of Architects will serve as reference.
Dates
Period for Questions during Application Procedure (online forum)Date of announcement until June 24, 2020
Deadline for applicationJuly 9, 2020
Dispatching of invitations for the design competition September 23, 2020
Online Forum September 23, 2020 - October 26, 2020 (extended)
Entrants Colloquium (site visit) September 30, 2020
First Deadline for submitting projectsJanuary 12, 2021
Second Deadline for submitting model and renderings January 19, 2021
Jury meetingFebruary 16-18, 2021
Decision of the European Parliamentexpected April 2021
Exhibition (envisaged date)expected January/February 2023
WarningApplications will be assessed based on the application file. Candidates will be required to provide and send information through specific forms. A number of supporting documents must be attached to the application file. Further documents may be requested by the European Parliament during the procedure.
Should candidates fail to submit the required supporting documents with their application file or fail to send the supporting documents requested by the European Parliament throughout the procedure within the set deadline, or should the documents submitted not be in accordance with their declarations, applications may be rejected.
Candidates should note that certain documents and/or evidence must be attached to the application file, otherwise it will be automatically rejected.
Those documents and/or evidence are specified below.
In case of contradiction of information provided on this website and the competition brief, the information given in the competition brief shall prevail.