The train from Brussels to Strasbourg, which carried important politicians to the session, arrived with an hour’s delay. It turned out that by accident, instead of the official headquarters, he arrived at Marne-la-Vallée, the Disneyland Paris stop. explained that the reason for the route change was a signaling error at the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle TGV station, which caused the driver to turn in the wrong direction. However, they accepted the whole confusion with a smile.
Politicians joke about the driver’s error
“Team,” wrote Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela, posing for a photo with another MEP in a buffet car. “When magic comes to life – Disney’s slogan will soon become the slogan of the European Parliament?” – asked Emmanuel Foulon, who cooperates with the parliament’s press team. German MEP Daniel Freund joked that “we are not Mickey Mouse’s parliament.” Beata Płomecka, correspondent of Polish Radio, adds that it is difficult not to recall the words of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from several decades ago, to which Freund was probably referring. Thatcher called the European Parliament “Mickey Mouse’s club”.
On this occasion, however, the media pay attention to other details. Namely, the very sense of this connection. Every month, a special train transports MEPs, their assistants and officials to the plenary session in the capital of Alsace. This way you avoid a huge convoy of cars. Another problem, however, is that there is no direct connection to , which forces travelers to change trains either in Paris or at a station near the Disneyland complex – points out “The Guardian”.
Controversial train to Strasbourg
The constant traveling from Brussels to Strasbourg once a month for 4-day plenary sessions is regularly ridiculed and criticized for this reason. There is talk of a traveling circus and a waste of Europeans’ money. “The image of the European Parliament as a peripatetic circus is becoming more and more real by the hour,” commented Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, an organization supporting NGOs, on the Disneyland mishap.
There were petitions to abolish the second seat of the European Parliament and move all sessions to Brussels, where two-day mini-sessions are held. However, this requires an amendment to the EU treaties, because two seats of the European Parliament are included in them. For now, however, there is no required unanimity, because the changes are opposed by France, whose headquarters in Strasbourg brings prestige and income.
Source: Gazeta
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