In an article for UK in a Changing Europe, Claire describes her first experiences of being an MEP as she travels to Brussels to sign up with the administration and being briefed on and by the bureaucracy.
She writes: ‘If critics think business class travel is the extent of the gravy train, they haven’t been looking very hard. The EU’s financial excesses are grotesque.’ She continues: ‘Listening to briefings detailing descriptions of how the parliament works was sobering and I realized just how powerless MEPs really are. Any plans to make trouble ran into the practical reality of the way time is stitched up via the arcane Group system, allowing little possibility of speaking. Incredibly, the EP isn’t even a talking shop: it actually blocks people from talking!’
Read the full article here.