They were supposed to go to Strasbourg, where the European Parliament is located, but ended up at Disneyland Paris… A routing error sent several European parliamentarians, who were coming from Brussels, to Mickey’s land this Monday, according to one of the spokespersons of the European Parliament, Emmanuel Foulon on X (formerly Twitter). The latter, contacted by 20 minutes, specifies that the plenary session of the European Parliament is being held in Strasbourg this week and that, therefore, “a number of deputies, commissioners and other European employees are making their transhumance”.
European Parliamentary Assistant Jordan Maris also shared the information, with a map of the trains, adding “it appears that one of the trains accidentally missed the turn and is now heading towards Disneyland.” The information was also confirmed by the journalist of Politico, Eddie Waxalso present on this train.
A “very relaxed” atmosphere
“We were told on the microphone “an unfortunate switching error at Charles de Gaulle station””, explains Emmanuel Foulon, who evokes a “very relaxed” atmosphere in his car. “It makes for a slightly lighter story in a week where we are working in particular on the Gaza Strip or the war in Ukraine,” notes the spokesperson.
“We are NOT Mickey Mouse’s Parliament,” MP Daniel Freund had fun on X, member of the European Green Party. However, the elected officials did not stay to celebrate Disney’s centenary because the train finally restarted after being stuck at the gates of the amusement park “for a little less than an hour”, explains Emmanuel Foulon. “For God knows where, if that happens we’re going to Parc Astérix or Futuroscope,” he laughs, specifying however that EU employees can “work” because they remain connected.