The year is 2030 and French President Marine Le Pen’s sweeping overhaul of both her own country and the EU shows no sign of slowing down. The Berlaymont, or the European Commission’s HQ, has been repurposed as the Ministry of National Sovereignty, except for the 13th floor —the current work base and living quarters of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — which is now a cat cafe. Other buildings in the EU Quarter of Brussels (or, as it’s now known, the 21st arrondissement) have not been so lucky.
Most have been razed to the ground. Some have been occupied by disgruntled former EU staff, who are refusing to leave and have set up a working group to discuss a future roadmap that will feed into a discussion on how to bring back a European Union that Le Pen has largely destroyed. Largely, but not completely.
There is still an official EU office; the corner table in the branch of sandwich shop Exki near the Schuman roundabout (ironically, Le Pen used some of the money saved from dismantling the EU to finish the roundabout as planned). It is staffed 24/7 by Maroš Šefčovič, and he has a plentiful supply of leaflets. Le Pen had more in store for the EU after her crushing 2027 presidential election win over Kylian Mbappé (who won a primary against Raphaël Glucksmann to be the unity centrist candidate, which was decided by who could do the most keepie-uppies).
The phrases “non-paper,” “stakeholder” and “trilogue” have been consigned to la poubelle de l’histoire. The European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee were closed down within weeks of Le Pen taking office, which shocked millions of Europeans who had no idea they ever existed. The European Parliament building is still there but is now occupied by a strange breed of zombie-like creatures wandering aimlessly through the corridors in search of something to do.
No one can tell the difference. Von der Leyen was, as Le Pen promised would happen, sent back to Germany where — in a somewhat unexpected move — she has become chancellor, succeeding Angela Merkel, who herself came out of retirement and orchestrated a coup to bring down current Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Anyway, back to 2026 and an EU reeling from a Le Pen speech in which she pledged to turn the Commission into a “secretariat” in the service of its member countries, and scrap some institutions altogether.
Le Pen gave her speech in Brussels on Wednesday and caught the train from Paris to Gare du Midi — if you haven’t been, imagine what the train station in Hell would look like, but with paninis. According to POLITICO’s railways correspondent, Miles Trackman, Le Pen was close to running into Michel Barnier, a former French prime minister (and who among us hasn’t been French prime minister?) and fervent Europhile who was spotted at the Paris station at the same time. The question being asked in Brussels circles (and everything in Brussels goes around in circles) is: “Will Le Pen do a Meloni?” — as in, will she soften her stance if elected?
Extract — continue reading at the source.
