What is the Parliament For?

The European Parliament desperately wants to be taken seriously. So why doesn’t it do its job properly?

José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, went to the European Parliament on Wednesday and faced down a Euro-skeptic attack on his credibility, accusing his critics of practicing "demagoguery" and "gutter politics."

So the man is arrogant and thinks himself untouchable. But what do the MEP’s have to say?

• The loudest applause went to Barroso, who was supported by the leaders of the four biggest factions in the Parliament.
• Hans-Gert Pöttering, leader of the center-right European People's Party, the biggest block in Parliament, called the motion "humanly indecent."
• Graham Watson, the Liberals' leader, said to Barroso's critics: "You are ridiculous.

So they care about nothing except which side the accusers are on. Perhaps we should not expect Italians to take one example, to raise any eyebrows over such a small trifling matter. But to see so many parliamentarians from so many different political cultures, come to the conclusion that these issues are of no interest to their constituents is a neat illustration of why this parliament is not worth taking seriously. To those that claim the EU’s democratic deficit can be solved by giving this parliament more power, I can only say, when given an opportunity to hold the executive to account it failed. Such a body can never truly represent the people.