Europe is boring, and that’s a good thing
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images The Economist is publishing a blog diary by Alex Stubb, a Finnish MEP who is attending the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, France. With all due respect to Stubb and to the estimable Economist, there’s simply no way to make this interesting—not even with self-deprecating comments like these: 7.00. The producer ...
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images
The Economist is publishing a blog diary by Alex Stubb, a Finnish MEP who is attending the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, France. With all due respect to Stubb and to the estimable Economist, there’s simply no way to make this interesting—not even with self-deprecating comments like these:
7.00. The producer of the radio programme calls me to check that I am awake, at least physically. I brief her on the latest developments on the distribution of seats in the European Parliament. She promises to call me back at 7.15. I brush my enormous teeth. […]
14.45. Time to prepare the Committee on Budgetary Control. I am wearing a black shiny suit, a black shirt and a lime green tie. A Spanish colleague thinks that I look like a pimp. I take it as a compliment…
It’s unfortunate that European parliamentary politics are so mind-numbingly dull, because the gradual integration of Europe represents a stunning achievement. Just 60 years ago, Europeans were still reeling from slaughtering each other. Today, they’re debating stricter lobbying rules. Maybe boring ain’t so bad after all.
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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