A new sitcom gives faces to “faceless Eurocrats”

Aside from war, illness and retirement planning, nothing can possibly be less funny than a “trilogue”. This arcane facet of lawmaking in the eu involves shutting elected meps, officials representing the bloc’s 27 member states and boffins from the European Commission in a room until a deal is thrashed out, often late at night. The forging of cross-institutional consensus over Article 225(b) is more likely to induce sleep than laughter. So to devise an entire ten-episode sitcom about the way the eu’s laws are crafted—centred on a trilogue on fisheries regulation, no less—is to venture near some of comedy’s outer limits. “Parlement”, a multilingual satirical show whose second season is out this month, takes a crack at turning Brussels into a punchline. For fans of the eu, it is a serious moment.

Politics often makes for good television. The corridors of power are naturally rich in scheming, conflict and comically colossal egos. A fast-talking, starry-eyed version of American politics kept viewers riveted through seven seasons of “The West Wing”. “Borgen” made Danish politics seem more conspiratorial than it probably is. “House of Cards”, a British show later remade in America, dripped with sexy intrigue. But what happens in Brussels has until now stayed in Brussels. Who would watch second-tier politicians fighting over whether a directive needs to be turned into a regulation? Incessant calls for more power to be turned over to European institutions lack a certain dramatic impact. Forget the clashes that bring national politics to life: the eu from the outset has been about taking emotions out of governing. “Less war, more committee meetings” sums it up.