The European Commission's headquarters in Brussels shut down the air conditioning on its lower floors on Friday as extreme heat swept across Belgium, but the offices of the European Commission president and most of the commissioners remained unaffected, according to Politico.

The 13-story Berlaymont building houses Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the bloc's 26 commissioners, and around 3,000 staffers. Von der Leyen's office, located on the 13th floor, was not affected by the shutdown, while most commissioners' offices on floors eight and above also continued to receive air conditioning.

Staff at the Commission's Berlaymont headquarters got an urgent text message around midday informing them that the air-cooling system on floors one through seven would be shut down for the rest of the day due to the extreme weather.

Earlier this week, the commission advised staff to avoid going outdoors during the hottest hours of the day, drink water regularly, and begin work earlier to reduce exposure to extreme heat.

The partial shutdown prompted criticism from staff working on the lower floors.

"It's like feudalism," one commission official told Politico, referring to how the upper floors occupied by commissioners – the EU executive – retained air conditioning. Another official called the situation "a disgrace."

Even on the cooled upper floors, temperatures remained high, with one staff member reporting an indoor temperature of 25.7C (78.3F).

The heat wave has reignited debate over the limited availability of air conditioning across Europe.

According to Politico, only about one-fifth of European households have air conditioning, while around one-fifth of trains in Belgium also lack cooling systems, leading the national rail operator to cancel several peak-hour services.

The European Parliament has also experienced power outages this week as increased electricity demand from cooling systems put pressure on the grid, the report said. (AA)