[autom.vertaling] Plannen die voor het museum van de EU worden onthuld (en)

Ambitious plans were unveiled yesterday for an EU museum, which will open in 2006 in Brussels.

The museum - next to the old Gare du Luxembourg in Brussels - will cover an impressive 6000 square metres and will cost 22.5 million euro - to be financed by the Belgian government, the private sector and the EU.

Visitor projections are also impressive. Studies have shown that the museum can expect 300,000 visitors per year after five years in operation and 450,000 per year after 10 years.

The idea of such a museum has arisen from the fact that there are 2000 daily visitors to the European Parliament and other institutions, but there are no real attractions there to show tourists.

However, the new EU museum will be independent of the institutions and, according to Belgian daily La Libre Belgique, will not be afraid to show the murkier side of European integration.

Future tourists can expect a raft of attractions for their pleasure at the new EU museum. For example, the café will prepare dishes from all 25 future EU countries. There will be exhibitions of European art and interesting artefacts from around the Union.