Brussels: Police search European Commission buildings

Police raided the premises of the European Commission in Brussels on Thursday, with the Commission and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office acknowledging the event. 

Unnamed sources close to the investigation told both the AFP news agency and the Financial Times that the operation was connected to a real estate deal done with the Belgian state in 2024. 

A spokesman for the Commission said that the EU’s executive branch was “aware of the ongoing investigation” into the sale of some 23 Commission buildings, and was “confident that the process was conducted in a compliant manner.” 

Valued at €900 million in 2024 (roughly $1.07 billion at current exchange rates), the real estate was sold as the Commission downsized its available office space, primarily as a result of more staff working remotely in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. 

Buildings sold to Belgian sovereign wealth fund SFPIM

The searches took place early on Thursday, both the FT and later AFP reported, with the EU’s European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) confirming only that it was “conducting evidence-collecting activities in an ongoing investigation” involving the Commission. 

The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office for the EU, responsible for investigating crimes against the bloc’s financial interests. 

The properties in question were acquired by the Belgian sovereign wealth fund, the SFPIM. It planned to renovate and revamp them and then put them back on the market as commercial and residential real estate.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic