The wizards of Luxembourg

IN THE ATTENTION-STARVED world of EU politics, officials and politicians like to vaunt themselves. Folks in the European Commission refer to themselves as the “guardians of the treaties”, which sounds like a tagline from a superhero movie starring polyglot bureaucrats. More enthusiastic MEPs label the European Parliament “the heart of European democracy”. The woeful turnout at European elections—51% in 2019—suggests otherwise.

Only the inhabitants of the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court, play down their importance. The court is a mere “umpire”, says its president, Koen Lenaerts, a Belgian jurist who has sat on it for three decades. It simply clears up any confusions left over in the bloc’s treaties, steering clear of politics. The Luxembourg-based court often resembles the Wizard of Oz in reverse: a mighty institution determined to portray itself as a puny one.