By Martin Banks - 1st February 2010
We are not looking for well-known people, but those who worked behind the scenes
Ans Persoons
People who have witnessed the "birth and growth" of Brussels' EU quarter are being invited to take part in a new survey.
The Brussels-Europe Liaison Office (www.blbe.be) wants to record a series of conversations with the 'pioneers' of the EU, the first European civil servants who came to work in Brussels in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Ans Persoons, of the Brussels-Europe Liaison Office, said, "We want to know things like what their arrival in Brussels was like.
"Other questions might include: What were things like on the work floor? Why did they want to work for 'Europe'?"
She added, "We are not looking for well-known people, but those who worked behind the scenes, from usher to director.
"These interviews will be combined with stories from the residents of the Leopold district at the time.
"So we are looking for Bruxellois who experienced the birth and growth of Brussels' EU institutions from close-up and saw their neighbourhood evolving from residential to office-oriented."
She said the interviews will be recorded and will be made public during Belgium's presidency of the EU, which kicks off on 1 July 2010.
She added, "The aim of these oral testimonies is to give a broad public a better understanding of an extremely exciting period in the history of Brussels and Europe. This is a unique source of information and we must not allow it to be lost."
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