The ‘Eureaucracy’ on alert

Functionaries try to keep functioning amid Brussels terror threat.

Much of central Brussels was quiet Monday as many residents of the city remained at home during a third day under Belgium’s highest-level terror alert.

But the European Parliament in Strasbourg was the scene of travel chaos Monday afternoon as MEPs and their assistants arrived from around Europe and some 3,000 people in total attempted to gain entry for this week’s plenary session amid heightened security measures.

Kaja Kallas, an Estonian liberal MEP, tweeted “Welcome to Strasbourg! Goodbye Schengen” in disgust at the way the throng was being dealt with at the Parliament’s secure entry points.

The scenes resembled an earlier crush Monday morning at the main Brussels train station, Gare du Midi, where hundreds of MEPs were crammed on a platform attempting to board a chartered Thalys train that whisks them directly to Strasbourg for monthly Parliament plenary sessions.

Known as “the gravy train,” the special Thalys, like many other train services this morning, was delayed. This created huge crowds of VIPs on the platform on a day when Belgian authorities and many European national governments warned people to stay away from crowded public places.

“The situation seemed surreal, if not dangerous,” a parliamentary assistant told POLITICO. “It’s clear the situation was not handled well … and that the authorities in the European Parliament had absolutely not prepared for the situation. There was a complete lack of appreciation for the seriousness of the situation.”

Belgian cameraman Daniel Demoustier, who filmed the scenes, described them as “total chaos” on Twitter.

Less than four kilometers away in the city’s “European Quarter,” where the main EU institutions are based, official Brussels tried to keep functioning as normal — except for the armored vehicles on the streets and armed guards outside buildings.

Zealous security measures also provoked a backlash in the Parliament’s Brussels building, which has for months run a tighter security regime than the other EU institutions, including passport checks even for Parliament badge-holders such as journalists. Today the searches went much further.

One European Parliament official said security guards searched his car, looking in the trunk and under the vehicle with mirrors, and then shining a light into the car interior. “It very much reminded me of going into the GDR many years ago,” he said.

The European Commission, Parliament, Council of Ministers were all working, and most surrounding shops and cafés remained open to cater to staffers. However, the Brussels Metro and European Schools — to which many Eurocrats send their children — were closed, forcing some to work from home.

A spokeswoman for the Commission said most of the institution’s staff were “working normally” Monday. The spokeswoman said about 20 percent of Commission staff were working from home “given the circumstances,” adding that that this figure is usually around 5 percent.

Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, in charge of administrative matters for the institution, notified officials and support staff that security measures had been increased, and some large EU-organized events scheduled to be held outside official premises, such as conferences, were canceled.

But elsewhere, “it’s really business as usual,” said one civil servant who was working to prepare Monday’s Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers. “Almost everybody is at work.”

“I have not felt anything, or seen anything particularly different,” said Council spokersperson Jüri Laas, who like many people in Brussels cycles to work and so was not affected by the Metro shutdown. “People are more struggling with crèches and schools closed.”

Torben Hoffeldt, a senior counselor at the Council, tweeted however that he is “One of the few persons working in Justus [Lipsius, the institution’s headquarters building] today.”

Commission staff were encouraged to use teleworking as much as possible, a move that generated mixed reactions.

One Commission official who asked to remain anonymous said that there were “few possibilities for flexi-working arrangements for people without kids and we don’t seem to see reinforced security in front of the Berlaymont.”

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told the press corps Monday that Belgian authorities said there was no specific risk against the European institutions.

“We will continue to work in calm and in serenity,” he said.

While the EU remained mostly open for business, many Brussels lobbying firms and embassies reported they were operating on a skeleton staff.

“Fifteen percent who are supposed to be here are here,” said a security guard manning the phones at the British embassy, because so few people had showed up to work. He explained he didn’t have the clearance to use embassy computers to look up contact details, so most calls to the embassy would go straight to voicemail.

One Commission official summed up the mood: “We keep business as usual and this is what needs to be done, keep living normally.”