- Put online a few days ago on the France Télévisions website, a TV series examines the work of an MEP and his parliamentary collaborator, Samy.
- “Parliament” takes us to the heart of the European institutions, between Brussels and Strasbourg.
- The series is a wealth of information on the making of laws by the European Union.
As the European Union tries to organize itself in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, a new TV series humorously reveals behind the scenes of Brussels' parliamentary cuisine. Available exclusively from April 9 on the France Télévisions website, Parlement follows a young parliamentary collaborator in the corridors of the Union's legislative body. If you think you are bored in the capital of the EU, this series could make you change your mind. And for those who understand nothing about the functioning of the European institutions, Parliament is a mine of information, hyper realistic because the series was filmed in the real premises of the European Parliament, in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Getting an amendment voted is an obstacle course
Samy arrives in Brussels to be the assistant of Michel Specklin, a French MEP not frankly passionate about his mandate. “I have been here for three years. Now is not the time to ask how it works! ", Confides the elected official. The young man then understands that he will have to fend for himself to understand the complex cogs of the EU and the delicate games of power and alliances that are played at 28, against the backdrop of Brexit.
It will take him all season to vote on a single amendment, banning "finning", a practice of fishing for sharks, cutting their fins to sell them on the Chinese market, then throwing the mutilated fish into the sea. A story inspired by reality, since fin fishing was banned by the EU in 2013.
We follow in a playful way the course of the amendment, from the "fishing" committee to the vote in plenary, via the "conciliation committee". All the Brussels jargon is there, without making the series indigestible. To obtain the support of a majority of MEPs, from different countries and parties, Samy will have to use persuasion, and avoid the traps set by his opponents. And once the amendment has been adopted in the European Parliament, it must then obtain the approval of the Council of the EU, that is to say of the member states. A long way before finning is finally banned in the 28's.
Better to be multilingual in Brussels
The international cast and multilingual dialogues give Parliament a false air of the Spanish inn , especially since the parliamentary staff are, for the most part, younger than the deputies whom they assist. We laugh in French, in English, in German, which are the three working languages of the European institutions. While the EU has 24 official languages, only plenary sessions of Parliament, as well as meetings of the Conference of Presidents and the bureau, are systematically interpreted in all of these languages.
Lobbyists are present
Private lobbies are ready to do anything to influence decisions taken in Brussels and Strasbourg. Their emissaries have meetings with elected officials, hang out in the cafeteria and are sometimes so charming and undetectable that Samy is caught there, for lack of experience. Trapped by a pro-fishing lobbyist who presents himself as an Italian parliamentary collaborator, the hero cut and paste of the amendments in the report of his MEP, who then fails to be severely punished.
If Samy manages to catch up in extremis his terrible fault, the series is inspired by real facts, in the European Parliament and in France. But this practice, regularly denounced by associations, is more and more controlled.
European officials pay taxes
If you want to piss someone off who works in the European Parliament, say they don't pay taxes. This is the trick used in episode 8 by a German MEP. To verify that the official present with her in the elevator does not understand German, and therefore cannot understand the political ploy which she charges to her interlocutor on the telephone, she swings this short sentence in Goethe's language. The man remains unmoved, and the parliamentarian is convinced that he does not understand anything in German (error ...).
In reality, EU deputies pay European tax and social security contributions, which are deducted directly from their remuneration. Their net pay, of 6,824.85 euros monthly, is then taxable by the tax authorities of their country of residence.
Strasbourg
Coronavirus in Strasbourg: The European Parliament transformed into a screening center
Politics
European elections: Laws, budget, control of the EU ... What is the European Parliament for?
“Parlement” (saison1, 2020), series written by Noé Debré, Daran Johnson, Pierre Dorac and Maxime Calligaro, produced by Émilie Noblet and Jérémie Sein, with notably Xavier Lacaille, Liz Kingsman and Philippe Duquesne. Available on France.tv, the digital platform of France Télévisions.
- Europe
- Television
- European Parliament
- EU
- European Commission