It may take some time — perhaps even the entire six months of Italy’s European Union presidency — to get over Silvio Berlusconi’s jaw-dropping performance in the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week. But the institution seems destined to quickly return to its normal sleepy ways.
Appalling though the episode was, it was immediately clear that it was very big news — the biggest from the chamber since Ulster Protestant leader Ian Paisley denounced the pope as the antichrist in 1988. Staff even organised an action replay of the moment when a beaming Il Cavaliere cracked his ”ironic” joke about Nazi concentration camps — though sadly not of the immortal ”Silvio, what the fuck have you done?” response of Pat Cox, the Irish president of the Parliament.
It would have been bad enough in Brussels, where most of the routine work takes place. But the official seat of Parliament is in Strasbourg, precisely because the city (lovely place, delicious food) symbolises post-war Franco-German reconciliation — a fact of which the Italian leader seemed blissfully ignorant.
Long-suffering MEPs, however, are aware of this because they are among the 3 000 people forced by the weight of history and French selfishness to brave summer strikes, winter weather, poor connections and overbookings all year round to make it to the monthly plenary sessions.
Complaints are furiously denounced by French MEPs, who are backed by the Germans and the Italians and by lobbyists, who love the captive audience. Unfortunately, the French are within their rights, as the siting of EU institutions is decided by unanimity and John Major struck a very bad deal with François Mitterrand in 1992.
The result is that Parliament makes a splash in the local paper and gets occasional coverage in Le Monde —and that’s about it.
But last week alone the Parliament made ground-breaking decisions on genetically modified food, greenhouse gas emissions, public procurement and compensation for airline passengers — issues affecting millions of people and moulding debates of global importance: hardly the work of an institution that doesn’t matter.
Richard Corbett, a British Labour MEP, has proposed that Parliament move permanently to Brussels and that all summits take place in Strasbourg. That would be a sensible solution whose chances are currently non-existent. Some predict a rebellion when the shine wears off for all those Polish, Maltese and Latvian MEPs joining the club next year. But something really should be done so that Europeans don’t have to wait for another bout of buffoonery to put the EU’s only directly elected institution briefly and thrillingly on the front pages. — Â