{"id":83926,"date":"2025-05-08T06:41:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T06:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83926\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T06:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T06:41:14","slug":"the-weird-world-of-eu-parliament-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83926\/","title":{"rendered":"the weird world of EU Parliament gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

A corruption scandal involving Chinese tech giant Huawei reignited discussions earlier this year around gifts and donations received by EU lawmakers.<\/p>\n

While MEPs often find themselves on the receiving end of such tokens of appreciation, the whole gifting affair remains a delicate matter in Brussels and Strasbourg<\/p>\n

According to the European Parliament’s code of conduct, MEPs must steer clear of gifts worth more than \u20ac150.<\/p>\n

If a gift crosses that line, it lands in the hands of Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who then acts as judge, jury, and occasional reluctant gift recipient.<\/p>\n

All these treasures (and some definite oddities) are logged in a public register and tucked away safely behind a locked door in Brussels, accessible only when an MEP asks to visit the collection.<\/p>\n

We took a peek behind the door of this cabinet of curiosities and were left scratching our heads.<\/p>\n

A dagger from far beyond<\/strong>\"Indonesian<\/p>\n

Indonesian dagger called \u2018Keris Luk 7 Pandawa\u2019 – European Parliament <\/p>\n

Among the stranger entries: a traditional Indonesian dagger called \u2018Keris Luk 7 Pandawa\u2019 \u2013 and no, it\u2019s not part of the EU plan to boost defence investments in Europe.<\/p>\n

The dagger made quite a journey: gifted during a parliamentary mission to Indonesia, passed to the vice-chair of the development committee,\u00a0who later handed it over to the chair in a committee meeting.<\/p>\n

The ceremonial blade now quietly sits in Brussels, just in case.<\/p>\n

A flag from farther beyond<\/strong>\"The<\/p>\n

The EU flag from the space – European Parliament <\/p>\n

The European\u00a0Space Agency reached for the stars when it gifted Metsola an EU flag that had been to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, among the pens and plaques no one really wants, there\u2019s a piece of space history.<\/p>\n

Eurovision wannabes<\/strong><\/p>\n

In what might be the most optimistic pitch of all time, Italian singer Stefano Picchi sent Metsola a CD – yes, in 2023 – with 11 songs and even a chord booklet, in case the Maltese\u00a0president felt like jamming.<\/p>\n

One track was a tribute to late President David Sassoli, which Picchi hoped could be performed at the Eurovision Song Contest that year.\u00a0A slight snag: Picchi was never chosen to perform in Eurovision \u2013 despite being listed in the Parliament\u2019s archives as a 2022 Eurovision song contest participant.<\/p>\n

Among the songs, there was also one Picchi claimed to have written with Pope Francis by quoting from some of the pontiff\u2019s speeches, a\u00a0type of divine telepathic coproduction<\/p>\n

Modern art<\/strong>\"A<\/p>\n

A nude female figure from Cyprus – European Parliament <\/p>\n

Representing the \u201cmodern art\u201d category: a reproduction of a nude female figure from Cyprus, gifted by Annita Demetriou, the President of the Cypriot parliament.<\/p>\n

It’s modelled after an ancient idol housed in the Pierides Museum. Cultural, sure \u2013 but maybe not what you’d expect to unwrap at the office.<\/p>\n

Radio days are so back<\/strong><\/p>\n

European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib recently caused a stir by showing off a 72-hour emergency kit featuring, among other things, a portable radio.<\/p>\n

Critics called her alarmist \u2013 until a blackout hit the Iberian Peninsula last week and everyone realised a little old-school tech isn\u2019t such a bad idea after all.<\/p>\n

Portable radios earlier made their way to Irish MEPs as gifts from Irish music rights organisations. So yes, vinyl might be trendy, but radios are still practical.<\/p>\n

Sports memorabilia<\/strong>\"Signed<\/p>\n

Signed jersey from Spain\u2019s national women\u2019s football team – European Parliament <\/p>\n

Roberta Metsola was also gifted a signed jersey from Spain\u2019s national women\u2019s football team \u2013 the year before they won the World Cup. Call it a lucky charm.<\/p>\n

She also received a signed Dinamo Kyiv shirt, and the European Parliament\u2019s own rugby team made the list with commemorative gear from their historic Parliamentary World Cup debut.<\/p>\n

Booze, books, and bric-a-brac<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some things never go out of style. Alcohol is still a go-to gift, with MEPs receiving everything from Scotch whisky to Bordeaux wines and French champagne. When in doubt in life, as at the European Parliament, bring a bottle.<\/p>\n

Also scattered throughout the archives: traditional musical instruments like the viola braguesa from Portugal, a Moldovan kaval, and a Moroccan Arabic lyra.<\/p>\n

But for every gem, there\u2019s a handful of touristy trinkets: keychains, pins, mini-monuments, and enough paperweights to sink a filing cabinet.<\/p>\n

Basically, a Brussels-style flea market behind locked doors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A corruption scandal involving Chinese tech giant Huawei reignited discussions earlier this year around gifts and donations received…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[11330,2000,40445,299,5187,20730,5111,31621,40444],"class_list":{"0":"post-83926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-brussels","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-eu-flag","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-parliament","14":"tag-parliament","15":"tag-roberta-metsola","16":"tag-stefano-picchi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114470852426270153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}