By Gabriele Scalise
Keeping it real
AS THE MONTHS GO BY, I find myself walking the streets of Brussels in the morning, alongside thousands of others dressed in business casual and headed for either an EU job, a lobby or an NGO. Click-clack-click-clack. Here and there, when the sunrays hit the right angle, Flemish bricks meet French windows; reddish buildings with white accents all over. I turn my head and take in the city’s Frankenstein visuals amidst patches of Art Nouveau – all contoured by the traffic level of a medium-sized European capital.
Oh, I wish I had brought my camera in my suitcase! I still have many districts to explore, but it is becoming increasingly clear how most people here (ahem, expats, bureaucrats like me at the moment, I should say) do not exactly appreciate a good chunk of the city – seen by many as disorganised and dangerous, in contrast to the more refined neighbourhoods. And do I really disagree with them? Is my taste any different? That is also part of the point, having now briefly taken part in the world of European administration and sharing many of its views.
“I smile at the driver and step down: not the first time, though I have been here for only two months. And so I move past police officers in anti-riot gear, take a picture of the tractors for my Instagram stories, and walk to the office.
Click-clack-click-clack.”
The urban situation is not too openly discussed, but there is also a not-so-stoic complacency about aesthetic separation and demographics. As said, Brussels is a patchwork, but so is Belgium, and by extension Europe – and the European mind. Though I am definitely not part of the “I love Brussels” internet crowd, I ponder whether all this just happens to be the nature of any true capital city. That is, of being a bit less authentic, and a pinch more general.
Anyway, I have to go to work at the European Parliament’s Martens building, so I wear my wireless earphones and step on my bus, surrounded by sleepy school kids, floating inside the vehicle cumbersomely. Between an EU-promoted podcast featuring President Metsola speaking in Italian and another programme reporting on a fellow citizen of mine detained in Hungary against the rule of law, I notice that my merry bus ride has come to an abrupt end, halting before reaching the European Quarter: another farmers’ protest ahead.
I smile at the driver and step down: not the first time, though I have been here for only two months. And so I move past police officers in anti-riot gear, take a picture of the tractors for my Instagram stories, and walk to the office. Click-clack-click-clack.
All this commuting, all these disruptions, tie the city to European politics and the people moving it forward. See, architecture and urban design materialise our exploratory plans, our path forward. The cityscape, the mindscape, the horizon: philosophy and our lives’ routine mixing. To get it, is to get where the European project is drafted – and by whom. Be that quirky or murky, these are not just “vibes”, but an identity and a modus operandi, shaping our European future and our place in the world.
In addition, the EU is complicated – and thus organised! Where there is chaos and overlapping tasks, there usually are organisation charts to be found. As a result, Europe’s bureaucratic machine is built on offices and white collars: office mentality, with its deadlines and emails, drives it. Again and again, working hour by working hour, coffee break by coffee break, its rhythm shapes the European action. Offices sort of like in The Secret of My Success (1987), starring Michael J. Fox. This time around with PDFs rather than paper files.
Elections! Time to love them
Although the European geography varies, there is a moment in which Brussels perfectly aligns with the rest of the continent, just like the city’s ever-changing weather. Every 5 years the European election campaign reveals every accomplishment and fear of this massive apparatus. As readers of Politico, Euractiv and Euronews will know, in its internal jargon the system is fondly called EU Bubble (or Strasbourg-Brussels Bubble): a bubble as its own microcosm, detached from the outer world; or a bubble to burst, as President Metsola often declares in her missions around Europe, to bring citizens to the polls.
“Ultimately, it should always be a community process, because democracy is special only when nourished and not delivered.”
For the most dedicated bubbleheads, the elections represent the definitive reality-check, when national politics knocks at their door (not just at the Council this time) and people ask “What does the EU really do?”. Now, whether institutions and politicians have a convincing answer to deliver is up to them, but it is always worth working on the necessary tools for citizens to stay informed and be able to evaluate them.
The EU has prepared different digital tools for people to get to know its work and impact. For example, communication initiatives such as the What Europe Does for Me, providing citizens with an overview of EU projects in their countries; or the platform together.eu, with its easy-to-set-up voting reminder. Workshops for information professionals and editorial collaborations are also taking place. And yet, I feel like we should do so much more, providing people with a platform rather than delivering products to selected, curated audiences.
I will do my best to address this, while avoiding an elitist group mentality. Ultimately, it should always be a community process, because democracy is special only when nourished and not delivered. A skilled gardener understands their plants and flowers, with their lifecycles, catering to their expression and eventual blooming. Very different from buying plastic accessories.
If you have reached this point, you are the kind of person who knows everything there is to know about the ethics behind voting; I do not need to convince you to vote. You know that going to the polls is more than the activity people do not do when it is either sunny or rainy outside, for example. What I can provide you with is the token of my interest in democracy and our societies, hoping you will internalise it. Because elections are relevant when they are ours – when they are felt and close.
My tip on how to contribute to them would be not to label ideas with the taboo word of political (or worse: controversial!) too soon; play with programmes and parties. The Union is under threat and its future depends on you, an informed voter: parties need to fight for your vote, not compel you to stay silent. To do otherwise would be your intellectual death. Many citizens doubt power, feel disaffected and alienated, or simply do not feel politics as tangible. Questioning the legitimacy of a democratic system is the first true step to include them – and their frustration – in this massive joint laboratory that is Europe. Otherwise their concerns, their demands and their fears might never be addressed. And so love elections for what they are supposed to be: a workshop about ideas, where the entry fee is €0 and your future happens to be either the real price to pay or your reward.
The secret behind legitimacy
Back in Uppsala, we studied the difference between learning a craft and being a slave to professionalism. With the former being a slow, gradual and critical journey, and the latter being a matter of status, an expression of cliques and power groups. I am committed to learning how to serve the public, but this thought is recursive: is keeping it real just another career move, a personal brand? What does it take to be me in Brussels? How to make a difference, while being honest about wishing to be rewarded for it?
“Compassion, anger, disgust, complacency: all human emotions. I believe in justice, power and legitimacy as guiding principles for these elections, so what can we do to include politics in peoples’ minds, rather than dictating a top-down model of inclusion?”
The legitimacy of my actions is tied to political legitimacy, and I bring myself legitimacy to these institutions. Still, a career is a solitary journey against competitors – against peers. To me, there will always be an inevitable hypocrisy in all this, but there really does not seem to be any other way. Amidst the hopes and dreams of many young professionals (common people wearing a tie), my formula to address democracy and all these mythical organisations is to love what is simple, because it is not easy: with the widespread fear of what a wave of extremism might mean for the European project comes the need to embrace the electorate. In a way, it is both the antidote to extremism and a constant that has to exist regardless of polarisation. Maybe the meaning of integrity is not lying about one’s political priorities, while being mentally open and tolerant, in a spirit of civic duty. It is inevitable to have political ideas when coming in touch with political processes. The opposite would be dangerous, actually: remaining apolitical, not feeling the push to think, plan, be involved. And so fearing a large body of voters while keeping institutional, instead of providing them with a vision and the tools to think and express themselves, is the first and last mistake – of politicians and bureaucrats alike.
Compassion, anger, disgust, complacency: all human emotions. I believe in justice, power and legitimacy as guiding principles for these elections, so what can we do to include politics in peoples’ minds, rather than dictating a top-down model of inclusion? Are we content with our work? Most importantly, are people satisfied with our efforts, when the main drivers of citizens’ information, our journalists, struggle to make ends meet, fighting for their salary? Is the data economy working, when Mozilla has to send an open letter to Meta, protesting against the company’s decision to abandon CrowdTangle (a key tool for journalists and analysts to monitor and address disinformation) ahead of the most consequential global election year?
Many questions, I know, however asking them is what keeps it real. I am done telling you about the elections, simply because the next chapter is yet to come. We will see in the coming months, and most importantly we should all make the effort to be part of it. A last commitment would be not to be too sure of oneself, because being accountable and receptive includes admitting mistakes, listening and improving. Great opportunities are not destinations, but moments in which we should strive to impact others positively.
By: Gabriele Scalise
Cover photography: Petar Starčević
