Speaking of what you can do in the Parliament, on Thursday evening a rave was held on the premises hosted by MEP Lukas Sieper, who recently announced that he was joining the liberal Renew Europe group (once his national party approves the move). The far right were not invited!
Declassified wasn’t invited for a different reason, being too cool (are you sure about this? — ed) and so can’t provide updates on what a liberal rave looks like, but presumably it involves playing music at a reasonable volume, ends at 9.30 p.m., and features a lot of Moby.
It wasn’t Sieper’s first on-site rave, although in the past booze was provided and the current invitation said you had to bring your own alcohol (a sign the cost-of-living crisis has reached the hallowed halls of the Parliament).
But back to betting. The next EU election will be held in 2029, and my €10 is on AI candidates being on the ballot then (although the Parliament has spent roughly a century debating the introduction of transnational lists — in which MEPs represent the entire EU rather than one country or region — and nothing has happened).
The EU risks falling behind. There’s already been an AI minister for public procurement in Albania, while an AI bot called Gaitana is on the ballot in an upcoming election in Colombia.
Think of the benefits to the EU! It would save taxpayers a fortune on expense payments and Strasbourg hotel bills; you could guarantee attendance, even for the dullest of debates (unless the Wi-Fi goes down); and you could just mute your political opponents (is this a good thing? — democracy ed).