The European Union is planning to host an all-you-can-drink dinner party for Eurocrats in Brussels that will cost taxpayers €80,000 despite the ongoing cost of living crisis across the continent.
Around 1,300 government workers from the European Council will be treated by President Charles Michel to a lavish bash in Brussels this autumn when they enjoy a dinner of 30 dishes, an open bar, and dancing at the expense of citizens of the bloc, who have been struggling to make ends meet in large part to the mismanagement of the very same bureaucrats.
According to a report from The Telegraph, the evening’s festivities will cost taxpayers upwards of 81,000 euros (£70,000/$90,000), however, this could rise to as much as €85,000 depending on the caterer selected for the party.
The money, which will come directly from the Council’s €650 million taxpayer-funded budget, will pay for two bars and four bartenders, who will be dishing out red, white, and sparkling wines which the government body demands must be “served at the correct temperatures with minimum waiting time”.
The dinner for the evening will consist of a range of meat, fish, and vegetarian meals that will “reflect the variety of European cuisine” in addition to 20 buffet stalls for tapas and other light options. At least 40 waiters will serve the bureaucrats and two maître ds will oversee the service.
“The evening’s aim is to invite staff to a reception that will showcase the Council’s General Secretariat and its values,” the Council is reported to have explained. “The main aim is to provide all participants with an enjoyable evening in a multicultural atmosphere.”
The event at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, which is set for October, will be the first of its kind since the Chinese coronavirus crisis. Attending elitist parties is just one of the myriad of plush perks enjoyed by EU civil servants, who also enjoy generous salaries and pensions.
The planned party was slammed as being out of touch in light of the ongoing cost of living crisis by the executive director of the MCC Brussels think-tank, Frank Füredi.
“I had hoped we’d seen the last of these parties when they were stopped during the Covid years, but they are back,” he said.
“As usual the EU shows its complete disconnect with ordinary people suffering a cost of living crisis, by spending tens of thousands on a huge party for its privileged and well-paid staff.
“If this was a private organisation using its own money, I wouldn’t have a problem. However, this is an EU institution using taxpayers’ money. It’s a completely outrageous waste of resources while ordinary people are struggling.”
The Council, for its part, attempted to claim that the cost per head would be just €7 when factoring in the money supposedly saved during the previous four years when no such parties were held because of the coronavirus.
A Council spokesman said: “The event you refer to will be the first social gathering of all staff since before the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
“It is normal practice for all large institutions as well as private companies to have a staff committee, in charge notably of organising some social activities for the staff.”