Michael Mosettig reviews the new book Life of a European Mandarin by Derk-Jan Eppink, who was a civil servant at the European Commission for more than a decade. 

Life of a European Mandarin.
By Derk-Jan Eppink. Ianoo. 386 pages.

Reviewed by Michael D. Mosettig

Two decades ago television viewers in Britain and the United States were alternately amused and appalled as they laughed through episodes of “Yes, Minister,” a British situation comedy about the way government bureaucracies really work at the top among insiders. In the series, a clever, glib high-ranking civil servant named Sir Humphrey would run circles around his Cabinet minister, aware that his power came from institutional memory and career longevity while the minister, an elected Member of Parliament, would soon be off on other pursuits.

Now, a former civil servant of the European Commission has turned out on paper the Brussels equivalent of “Yes, Minister,” an amusing memoir of how things work and don’t work at the Berlaymont headquarters of the commission. Perhaps the Life of a European Mandarin can be worked up into a European-wide sitcom – “Yes, Commissioner” – though to be true to Brussels protocol it would have to be dubbed and aired in 23 languages.

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