UK tunes into Europe

Date: 21/11/1996

It was not, it has to be said, a landmark in live television broadcasting. For those of you who missed it, fear not, you missed nothing.

Unlike the moon landing, future generations are unlikely to read in the history books about the day a European Court of Justice judgement was relayed as it happened to the millions tuned to the BBC.

Normal news was interrupted to join transmission of the 48-working week verdict - a very brave decision, given the impenetrable nature of most Luxembourg legal results.

Viewers waiting for a 'guilty' or 'not guilty' declaration were disappointed: this was the ECJ, not the OJ Simpson trial.

Instead, after an eternity spent listening to the outcome of an unrelated pharmaceuticals case, the entire British nation and other outposts where the BBC is received heard Court President Rodriguez Iglesias, without preamble, announce in his fine English: “The Court annuls the second sentence of Article 5 of Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time.”

With that point clarified, the great British nation, already bemused and bewildered by Europe, went back to its morning tea and toast.

The UK has no intention of leaving the EU, however - otherwise why would London lavish vast sums on plush new headquarters to house the British delegation in Brussels?

It may not be the most accurate piece of symbolism, but the UK representation has moved closer to the Commission - its new offices on Avenue d'Auderghem are almost within stone-throwing distance of the Breydel.

The first briefing for UK journalists in the new building triggered fresh enthusiasm for these events, because along one side of the room stood a bar big enough to accommodate the entire range of Belgian beer pumps. This turned out not to be the anticipated new hospitality policy, but a handy facility only to be employed for the occasional reception.

Perhaps the UK representation should use one of its new rooms for language courses for the nation's Euro MPs.

According to a survey conducted by the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, only eight of the 63-strong British Labour contingent are sufficiently competent in French to take questions and conduct interviews in the language.

The Danes get poor marks too - only one out of four in the Socialist contingent - while the Luxembourgers and

Dutch-speaking Belgians have, not surprisingly, a perfect record: two out of two and three out of three respectively.

And the rest? Spanish, 16 out of 21; Portuguese, seven out of ten; Greeks, five out of ten; and Dutch three out of seven. Perhaps language skills should be a prerequisite of standing for Euro-political office.