AT THE VENUE

BUSINESS CENTRE

For your convenience courtesy laptops and printing facilities will be available at the venue for free use by participants. At the business centre you will be able to print your boarding passes and check your emails.

CLOAKROOM AND STORAGE ROOM

A cloakroom service will be operational throughout the event during the opening times of the venue. For security reasons you are requested not to leave your personal belongings unattended and to drop your luggage in the storage room upon arrival at the venue.

INTERNET

Free WI-FI internet connection will be available throughout the venue. Login details will be printed on your conference badge.

MEALS AND REFRESHMENT

Complimentary water dispensers will be available throughout the venue. All catering services during the event will be free of charge. For details see table below

Catering services will be designed to suit all dietary needs.

REGISTRATION AND OPENING TIMES

The conference venue, registration and information desk will be open during the following times.

• 21 June 2022: 11h00 to 20h30
• 22 June 2022: 07h45 to 18h30
• 23 June 2022: 07h45 to 18h30
• 24 June 2022: 07h45 to 13h30

Access to the conference venue will only be granted to registered participants whose attendance has been previously confirmed by the Organising Committee.

Upon arrival at the registration hall, participants will be requested to show their barcode entrance voucher (which will be sent by email to all confirmed participants prior to the event). The voucher is strictly personal and cannot be exchanged or transferred to any third party. You must show your entrance voucher to our staff and collect your personal ID badge at one of the check-in kiosks in the registration hall to access the venue.

Our staff will track daily attendance to the conference with handheld badge scanners.

 

HOW TO REACH SQUARE CONVENTION CENTRE

SQUARE Convention Centre very conveniently sits next door to the main transport hub of Brussels - the Central Station - where train, tram, metro and bus all meet.

FROM BRUSSELS AIRPORT

FROM CHARLEROI AIRPORT

Google maps: link here

The distance between Charleroi Airport and the city centre is 69 km.

• By Flibco Bus: The one-way ticket from Charleroi Airport to the city centre costs 14.70 euro and the journey time is around one hour. You can purchase your ticket online or at the Flibco kiosk at the airport. The bus departs from Charleroi Airport and arrives at Gare du Midi. Busses go from Charleroi Airport every 30 minutes however they are not available at night. At Charleroi Airport the bus leaves from bus stop 1, in Brussels it departs from the street Rue de France (Frankrijkstraat) next to Brussels Midi (Brussel-Zuid)
• By train: A convenient Charleroi train exists that allows you to travel from the airport to any Belgian train station. You pay a fixed amount and the bus ride with bus A is included. Take first a local bus Tec (Line A) on destination Charleroi South train station and then take the train to Brussels city centre. The journey time from Charleroi Airport to Charleroi railway station is 20-25 minutes. Such TEC buses operate every 30 minutes from 5.35 am to 10.35 pm. By train, it takes 60 minutes to get from Charleroi-Sud to Gare de Bruxelles-Central. The train runs two times per hour to and from Brussels Midi (South), Brussels Central and Brussels Nord. Please consult website Belgian Railways for more information.
• By public transport: The Central Station of Brussels is a short walk across the Mont-des-Arts public gardens. All main tram, bus, metro, and train lines converge here, as well as the fast train from Brussels International Airport. Train routes to every part of Belgium run from the same station which includes the cities of Antwerp, Brugge, Charleroi, Gent, Mons, and Liège.
  • Metro lines 1 and 5
  • Bus lines 29, 38, 48, 66, 71, 86, 95, N06, N08, N09, N10, N11 and N12
  • Trams lines 38, 63, 65, 86, 92 and 93
• By car: If you plan to reach the venue by private car, kindly note that there are two public car parks with over 1700 parking spaces. Parking Albertine is the closest car park and is situated underneath SQUARE with direct access to the venue from the inside. For direct access from the Albertine car park, please go to level -3 and follow the directions to SQUARE. This route provides direct elevator access to the venue. A short walk away is the Grand Place car park which is conveniently placed midway between SQUARE and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Grand Place. Both car parks are accessible 24 hours and both have recharging facilities for electric cars.

 

COVID-19 MEASURES

 

LIFE IN BRUSSELS

ACCOMMODATION

EFSA has partnered with the Brussels Booking Desk and visitbrussels.be to offer conference participants discounted room rates at selected hotels within walking distance from the venue.

To check available hotels and book your room, please click here,

Contact: Wim Nicolai, email: [email protected] / phone: + 32 478 68 65 00

ATMS AND BANKING HOURS

There are over 13,700 cash dispensers and ATMs in Belgium. Most are Belgian banks. They all take the Bancontact/Mister Cash cards from Belgian banks, as well as some international debit and credit cards. Certain ATMs may not issue cash on credit cards, in which case sometimes trying a different Belgian bank’s ATM can work, otherwise you will need to visit a bank office to take out cash. Dispenser lobbies within Belgian banks are open after hours, but usually only for bank customers, who must swipe their bank card for entry. You may find yourself queuing at peak times for an ATM at central banks in Brussels, or that machines are low on cash after a big Saturday night.

CHEMISTS

Tel. 0903 99 000 (24 hours a day and 7 days a week): guard duties There are no 24-hour pharmacies in Belgium, but there is a “guard-duty”, pharmacies that will be open in evenings, holidays, and weekends. The pharmacies on “guard-duty” can be found on the door of any pharmacy you go to after hours or at www.pharmacie.be. This website allows to obtain information about the pharmacies on duty with several search criteria (zip code, name of municipality) as well as the location and a possible website. This site also contains links towards health sites and useful numbers. There are 2 main pharmacy chains:

• Multipharma – http://multipharma.yours.be/
• Lloyds Pharma – http://www.lloydspharma.be/

WEATHER IN JUNE

Brussels’ climate is temperate. Winters are mild and summers are often rainy. The average minimum temperature (usually the minimum temperature is noted during the night) in Brussels in June is 11.6°C (52.88°F). The amount of rain in June is normal with an average of 71mm (2.8in). You can expect very pleasant temperatures during the day. The average maximum daytime temperature lies around 21.0°C (69.8°F).

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

An efficient and integrated network of the various police forces, emergency services, organisations and agencies are ready to respond to emergency calls.

• European emergency number, valid in Brussels and throughout Europe, for all medical emergencies:
  • Phone: 112
  • Online: www.sos112.be
• Fire and ambulance services
  • Phone: 100
  • Online: firebru.brussels

Both numbers are free 24 hours a day from a landline, a public telephone or a mobile phone (even when networks are not available or overloaded).

• Red Cross
  • Phone: 105
  • Croix-Rouge de Belgique (French-speaking service) Online: www.croix-rouge.be (FR)
  • Rode Kruis Vlaanderen (Dutch-speaking service) Online: www.rodekruis.be (NL)
• Police emergencies: 101. To find the nearest police station, see the section on police zones.
  • In the event of a road accident you can call an agent from one of the emergency roadside phones positioned every two kilometres on motorways and some regional roads. The agent will be able to determine your location automatically.

 

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The city centre of Brussels is easily accessible by public transport: train, tram, metro and bus.

The public transportation network (metro, tram and bus) is managed by the Brussels Intermunicipal Transport Company (STIB-MIVB). The network maps, schedules, frequencies, rates or route planners are available on its website: STIB-MIVB

• The night network of STIB (night buses during the weekend) is called Noctis
• Some bus lines in Brussels are also managed by: De Lijn
• The trains are managed by: SNCB-NMBS

The map of the underground (subway) and train stations in Brussels:

• Metro (and train) map of Brussels (PDF, 2.21 MB)

Thanks to the Brupass tickets, travellers can use the train, tram, bus and/or metro in Brussels and an extended perimeter of 11.5 km around the 19 Brussels municipalities: Brupass and Brupass XL (in French)

Buy your ticket:

• In public transport with contactless payment. You can pay for your trip using your contactless bank card (debit or credit), smartphone or smartwatch. Every STIB bus, tram and metro station is equipped with a specific contactless payment device. This device supports any bank card with the contactless logo. For smartphones and smartwatches, compatible payment applications are Google Pay, Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay
• In the various metro stations and at the STIB information offices.
• At many newsagents.

TAXI SERVICE

Taxis may be called on the spot or booked in advance.

Brussels Taxi Companies:

• Autolux : Tel. (0)2 411 41 42
• Taxis Bleus : Tel. (0)2 268 00 00
• Taxi Victor Cab : Tel. (0)2 425 25 25
• Taxis Verts : Tel. (0)2 349 49 49

For all complaints, first of all note the registration number of the taxi, its make and colour. Contact: CCN - Service régional des Taxis et Limousines, rue du Progrès 80 bte 1 • 1030 T 0800/94 001 www.brusselstaxi.be

TOURIST INFORMATION

Brussels is one of the most international cities in the world. 27% of the population is made up of foreigners, not including those who have taken Belgian citizenship. In following with its status as the Capital of Europe (the seat of the European Union), Brussels is also the location for 40,000 EU employees, 4,000 NATO employees and hosts about 300 permanent representations: lobby groups, embassies, and press corporations.

It is an interesting fact that Belgians do not share one common language. There are three official languages in Belgium and an official language border has been established between the regions. In Brussels people mostly speak French, but all public signs and documents are in two languages (Dutch and French).

To find out more: https://www.brussels.be/tourism

VOLTAGE

Electrical outlets in Belgium supply electricity at 220 volts AC. All sockets are French, two-pin, Schuko, so you might need an adapter plug. It’s better if you use a universal type.