Published on 6/27/2026
The European Commission’s decision to turn off the air conditioning system in the basements of its headquarters in Brussels caused anger among employees, as some of them likened the measure to “feudalism”, given that the air conditioning was not separated from the floors that house senior employees.
The newspaper “Politico” reported that European Commission employees were informed – in an urgent message on Friday – that the air conditioning system on the first to seventh floors of the Berlaymont building – where the Commission’s headquarters is located – had been turned off mandatorily for the rest of the day, due to the harsh weather conditions.
The office of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is located on the last floor of the 13-storey building, while most European commissioners’ offices are on the eighth floor and above.
Speaking to the newspaper, a European Commission official, who works on the lower floors and who requested to remain anonymous, said that the air conditioners continued to work on the upper floors where the commissioners’ offices are located, criticizing this measure by saying, “It is like feudalism.”
The newspaper reported that another official at the Commission described the decision as “shameful.”
Belgium, which also hosts the main headquarters of the European Union institutions, recorded the highest temperatures on Friday since the beginning of 2026, as the Royal Belgian Meteorological Institute announced that the temperature at the official monitoring station in the Ukel region reached 35.3 degrees Celsius.
A red and orange alert remains in effect in most parts of the country due to the intense heat wave.
