The incident will do nothing to deter those who deride the EU institution as a Mickey Mouse Parliament | Photo-illustration by Giulia Poloni/POLITICO (source images via Getty and iStock)
ON A (DIFFERENT) TRAIN FROM BRUSSELS TO STRASBOURG — A train carrying hundreds of MEPs and European Parliament officials briefly ended up at Disneyland on Monday, after taking the wrong turn on the way to Strasbourg.
It was an incident that will do nothing to deter those who deride the institution as a Mickey Mouse Parliament.
Every month the European Parliament charters trains exclusively for lawmakers and EU officials to get them between its two seats in Brussels and Strasbourg, in eastern France.
It’s a monthly upheaval that is enshrined in EU treaties and is fiercely defended by France but often scoffed at as a traveling circus in which Goofy would be proud to participate.
After departing from Brussels Midi station, the train left Charles de Gaulle Airport and headed to Marne la Vallée Chessy, where Disneyland is located — causing a 45-minute delay.
“Team Disneyland,” wrote Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela in a photo she posted on X, showing her in the café carriage of the train with fellow MEP Mohammed Chahim, who appeared to be drinking a lemonade.
“We couldn’t get out, sadly,” said an EU official, who added that he could see the top of Space Mountain roller coaster during the short pitstop.
“It’s pretty much all-around laughter here at the madness of the situation. [There were]a few cries for ‘single seat now,'” joked one parliamentary assistant, referring to the campaign to stop the trips to Strasbourg. A second complained there were “no free attractions,” on the train.
“The driver had to go to the other end of the train, restart it and travel in the other direction,” said another official.
“We are NOT a Mickey Mouse Parliament,” said German lawmaker Daniel Freund online, tongue firmly in his cheek.
Another MEP said he was happy about the change of direction as it meant he was facing forward.
A third parliamentary assistant on the train, Emmanuel Foulon, joked that the Parliament should now adopt Disney’s catchphrase: “Where dreams come true.”
“The image of the EU Parliament as a peripatetic circus [is] getting more real by the hour,” wrote Alberto Alemanno, founder of the Good Lobby, on X.
In April, senior Socialist MEP Pedro Silva Pereira said at a closed-door meeting there was a lack of seats on the trains to Strasbourg and asked if the Parliament could charter more trains.
Christophe Hansen, a European People’s Party MEP dealing with administrative matters, told the same meeting that there weren’t enough trains available.
Donald Duck was unavailable for comment.
dragonmp93 on October 16th, 2023 at 21:59 UTC »
Didn't they take the wrong turn in Albuquerque ?
boringfilmmaker on October 16th, 2023 at 16:43 UTC »
Politico are really speedrunning the destruction of their brand.
weaselmaster on October 16th, 2023 at 15:06 UTC »
Trains don’t take wrong turns. The people operating the switches do. They must be feeling goofy.