Charlemagne: Elected, but how democratic?  THE travelling circus
gathers at Brussels’s Gare du Midi, from where an extra-long
chartered train speeds members of the European Parliament,
assistants and others (including journalists) to their
alternative home in Strasbourg. Having changed hands between
France and Germany five times in a century, the city is supposed
to stand for post-war reconciliation. These days, though, the
monthly caravan has become a glaring symbol of the European
Union’s capacity for waste.  Chauffeured cars whisk MEPs between
their sleek parliamentary complex and the city’s hotels and
restaurants, where prices are shamelessly inflated for the
occasion. MEPs for the most part loathe the disruption. Yet
there is little they can do about a two-seat system (plus
support functions in Luxembourg) enshrined in treaties that can
be changed only by unanimity. MEPs’ attempt to cut one of this
year’s 12 Strasbourg sessions prompted France to file a lawsuit.
Plainly, the European Parliament is not so