In 1985, in response to an initiative by Belgium, the Council of the EU appointed the Belgian Federal Government's Régie des Bâtiments as the contracting authority to construct a new building better suited to its needs. The foundation stone of the new building was laid in 1989. It is situated on land previously owned by the Belgian Government, a site formerly crossed by the street Rue Juste Lipse, named in honour of Justus Lipsius, a Flemish philologist and humanist.