The European Commission said that such wood may have been inadvertently used for temporary structures during the decade-long renovation process, but did not end up in the finished building.

But environmental group Greenpeace stuck to its claims that the plush offices of EU commissioners were lined in part with Indonesian tropical wood sourced from known illegal loggers.

EU administrative affairs commissioner Siim Kallas said checks had found that no wood "logged illegally or in a way that harmed the environment" made its way into the permanent structure of the star-shaped building.

But in a written reply to British Liberal EU lawmaker Chris Davies released Thursday, the Estonian commissioner admitted that there was doubt over some of the wood used for temporary protection of surfaces or supports.

"Consequently, for financial reasons, those contractors used other types of wood, which has since been removed from the site and the Berlaymont building," Kallas said.

"The commission will amend the specifications for its renovation projects to ensure that the wood used for temporary structures and purposes is also logged legally and in an environmentally friendly manner," he added.

Davies, environment spokesman for the European Liberal Democrats, said he was now satisfied by the commission's assurances after questions were first raised by Greenpeace in May last year.

"This removes a huge embarrassment and allows the commission to hold its head a little higher," he said.

"To have spent nearly half a billion pounds (940,000 dollars, 725,000 euros) on a headquarters building only to find that it led to the illegal destruction of tropical rainforests would have been shameful for the European Union."

But Greenpeace EU campaigner Katharine Mill said the commission was guilty of evasion in first denying the environmental group's claims, and now of downright falsehood.

"The photos we took during the renovation last spring showed the plywood ramps and wall panels on the 13th floor (where commissioners' offices are located) to be definitely from the Indonesian rainforest," she said.

"Those are still there, but they're now covered up by pale Nordic wood. And for the commission to admit that illegally logged wood was used even temporarily is scandalous," Mill added.

The continuing allegations by Greenpeace mean that the EU executive is not yet clear of the "Berlaymont curse".

Originally opened in 1967, the building dominates the centre of Brussels's EU district opposite the pink granite Council of Ministers building where EU summits and lesser government meetings are held.

It was evacuated in 1991 after it was found to be riddled with asbestos. The cost of its restoration ballooned to more than 600 million euros, and the work stretched years behind schedule.

The commission, which had spent the intervening years scattered across the EU district, finally moved back into a new-look Berlaymont complete with state-of-the-art technology last October.

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