Merriment at FT Brussels blog

Tony Barber’s post at the Financial Times Brussels blog catches the mood: Barroso’s impotent EU critics hop with fury (13 May 2009).



What else can they do?


A sizeable portion of the heads of state or government have shown that their union is not going to concede even the presidency of the Commission to the voters in the European elections (out of the top jobs under the Lisbon Treaty).


Well in advance of the elections to the European Parliament, they have – as national party leaders – across party lines incapacitated the Europarties, leaving the European People’s Party (EPP) with the only declared candidate: a renewed mandate for José Manuel Barroso.


Impotent fury or realistic assessment of the state of the union, Adam Smith comes to mind (with minor alterations):

Heads of state or government seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to undermine democracy.


Ralf Grahn

P.S. The sadness of the situation is in no way lessened by the populist quality of much dissent, as shown in the post European elections: The Libertas Collection.