Does the Belgian socialist Karel van Miert have a future? A mere 56 (he looks older), he should be poised for great things. One of the undoubted stars in a lacklustre commission, he browbeat Boeing into submission, hit Volkswagen with a record fine and stood up to the bullying of Helmut Kohl, who wanted the competition rules bent to help Deutsche Telekom and the German media groups run Europe's pay-TV. But Belgian insiders suggest that van Miert may have a brilliant career behind him; he could soon be returning to his farm to nurture his treasured collection of pelargoniums.
His first problem-as a Flemish-speaking socialist in the Buggins-turn system of Belgium-is that Flemish conservatives and then Francophones of both parties want their innings at the commission. Then-to the despair of his staff-he has not exploited his commission years as a springboard for the Belgian prime ministership. Party fundraisers winced when he denounced Belgian entrepreneurs for having "the mentality of small shopkeepers."
The long-delayed Willy Claes trial starts in September. (Claes resigned as Nato secretary-general in 1995, accused of taking bribes for party funds from Dassault and Agusta in exchange for Belgian military contracts.) Van Miert had been chef de cabinet for Claes and his home and office were searched. Although he was cleared, the trial of his former boss is not the best launch pad for a new career in Belgian politics. Finally, van Miert has lost his secret weapon: Willy Helin, his popular spokesman, leaves for the plum job of press attach? at the EU mission in Washington DC.
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neil kinnock has overcome the embarrassment over his wife's unpaid car registration tax by bringing the best in British drama to the Flemish National Theatre. Pity that it had to be that play about the Tory's version of Victorian values, Mark Ravenhill's Royal Court shocker Shopping and F***ing. As transport commissioner, Neil suggests the asterisks stand for "flying."
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considerable nervousness in Brussels, particularly among MEPs, about "the friends of Annabella" and how much embarrassment her favours might yet cause. This Anderlecht brothel was raided by the police-much to the surprise of the locals, who understood that the usual arrangements were in place to prevent such intrusions. Even more startling: the police found some ?10,000 worth of advanced video recording equipment in less than visible locations. The managers plead that it was used simply to count the numbers of clients and to keep the girls-er-straight. But the cops reckon that they have a blackmail ring on their hands. Anonymity is being offered to any victim who wants to come forward. So far, no takers. But the police are now taking an interest in the telephone numbers listed in manager Maria Panadero's little black book. The prefix 284-the parliament exchange-is said to crop up.
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do not mention next year's European elections to any of Labour's 62 MEPs. Millbank reckons that they should be able to hold 40 seats-hence the latest discreet soundings about volunteers for the House of Lords and the new phrase P-plus, which apparently stands for a peerage plus a lucrative quango post. But some MEPs predict that the uncertainties of PR, let alone the end of Blair's honeymoon, could leave Labour with 30 seats or fewer.
Most MEPs are edgy about rumours of defections to a left-wing slate which could split the Labour vote. Roy Hattersley's suggestion that New Labour was creating space for "a party of the poor" has had an effect similar to Michael Heseltine's musings about a pro-Europe slate for the Tories. Britain's political classes have yet to take on board the implications of PR for both the European and Scottish elections. The old left and pro-Europe Tories, with some 10 per cent of the vote, could achieve the kind of breakthrough impossible under the first-past-the-post system. That will put the fear up Blair's right-wing Leninists.
