751 Europeans – the first MEPs arrive in Brussels

Trolley, elegant suit and a disoriented look. After the revolving doors under the “Altiero Spinelli” plaque, there is a new, parallel world of corridors, elevators and escalators. The first thing to do, a phone call: better to avoid a sorry show asking indications everywhere, then let’s call an assistant. This is how it works when it’s your first time as a MEP at the European Parliament: from toady one, the persons elected in the 28 Member States will be arriving in Brussels for the first activities with their colleagues; if we can say it’s been a reconfirmation for some, it’s a new world for a lot of them, both in Brussels and in the Parliament.

It’s a slow start: not many MEPs arrived on Monday morning, and there was no Italian MEP – due to the celebration for June 2nd, Italian bank holiday. Safety staffers are already running around to recover “missing in action” MEPs around the corridors, to answer questions and to address the newest members to their destinations. The first formality to complete for everyone is getting their MEP badge. In order to make the operation of creating 751 new badges as quick as possible, an entire “welcome area” was set up. Some documents to be handed out, some signs and then the hardest obstacle: the photo which will be on the badge and in the website for the next five years. A team of professionals was hired to realize the photos: they suggest the concerned MEP on the positions to be taken (three-quarter profile, eyes wide open, smile but not too much) and realise a couple of photos for each profile, allowing MEPs to choose their favourite. “Well, it can tale a long time – a lot of MEPs are not happy with their photos and ask them to be taken again,” said some of the staffers, with a smile.

Still, the Parliament is just a little part of the world the newest MEPs should become familiar with. They also have to arrange their stay. “Several new MEPs have already come to ask information about the city, especially about the most common rental formulas,” explained us the employees of the help-desk set up by the Region of Brussels Capital inside the Spinelli Building to help newcomers understand how to move around the city. And if there are 751 MEPs, there is at least a double number of assistants and staffers who are starting to populate the parliamentary corridors and the cafés around Place Lux, full as they’ve never been lately. They are also waiting to be received at their dedicated desk, helping with administrative issues: “We help with their doubts on contacts, documents to be presented, formalities to be completed,” we are said. And looking at the flow, doubts are trendy today.

For sure, there will be time for them all to become familiar with Brussels and the European institutions. For the entire month of June, MEPs will be busy with the creation of the groups. The deadline is June 24, even though some party, e.g. the EPP, decided to speed up things in order to accelerate the beginning of the negotiations with Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, on the candidacy of Jean-Claude Juncker for the post of European Commission President. Yet, not everyone shared this urge: S&D, for instance, confirmed the appointments they had already fixed. First constitutive meeting on June 11, election of the new head on June 18. No running to introduce Van Rompuy his interlocutor for the negotiations leading to the appointment of the new European Commission President.