Euro high-life begins for Mandy

Published on Friday 20 August 2004 02:50

HE has basked in the pizzazz of Downing Street receptions and endured the strains of Northern Ireland - but today Peter Mandelson starts a new political incarnation as he heads to Brussels to become Europe’s trade commissioner.

Swapping Belgravia for Belgium is not the kind of social trade-off which many of London’s elite would jump at - but, as one of the most senior players in the European Union, there will be compensations.

It starts with the salary of 145,000, topped up by perks that include a 100 daily allowance on top of hotel costs when out of town on business. As Britain’s commissioner, Mr Mandleson will also have two chauffeurs on permanent 24-hour stand-by. And in a pleasant change from his latest incarceration as a mere back-bench MP for Hartlepool, he will be offered his pick of top-of-the-range cars, including Audis, BMWs and Mercedes.

With private comforts taken care of, Mr Mandleson will be welcomed into a plush office in the commission’s newly renovated Berlaymont building, an imposing star-shaped construction at the heart of Brussels "Eurocrat" district.

After a 13-year treatment for asbestos and other architectural ills, it finally reopens its doors in September at the cost of 660 million. Mr Mandelson will be granted one of the top floors of the 13-storey building. His seniority will be denoted by an allocation of five windows. His office will be furnished with comfortable black leather sofas and sport some of the best views of Brussels - and a private staff which far exceeds his Westminster allocation of one humble researcher.

Mr Mandelson will have six of the EU’s finest bureaucrats, in addition to secretaries, archivists and other assistants. Forays outside the office will be covered by a personal entertainment allowance of about 7,000 a year.

Even this sum is unlikely to cover the cost of entertaining at some of Brussels’ most exquisite restaurants. The new trade commissioner, known to enjoy the finer things in life, may find himself out of pocket if he opts to sample the culinary delights of the up-market Comme Chez Soi, where the wine list has bottles at 1,500.

La Mort Subite, near the historic centre of Brussels, the Grand Place, is famous for its range of Belgian beers - including Chimay, Rochefort and Westmalle - while L’Archiduc is one of coolest bars in Brussels, a place where customers have to ring the bell before being allowed to enter the art deco bar, known as a hang-out for architects and intellectuals.

But the new job is unlikely to involve paying for much. Mr Mandelson can expect to be wined and dined by an array of diplomats, ambassadors, industrial chiefs and even world leaders in his powerful role.

His mailbag will be jammed full of invitations to speaking events, champagne receptions, and requests from visiting dignitaries and MEPs.

In choosing a home, there will be no need to find a wealthy colleague from whom to solicit an unsecured loan; he will be issued with a 21,750 residence allowance to pick the pad of his choice.

Neil Kinnock bought a modest town house near the commission headquarters, and Chris Patten rented a modern (but far from flashy) flat with a park view, five minutes from his office. Others head east for family-sized houses with large gardens.

But Mr Mandelson has only his two dogs (Jack and Bobby, named after the Kennedys) and his Brazilian boyfriend.

Speculation is already rife over whether they will come to Brussels to join Mr Mandelson in a more extravagant residence.

If so, he could walk them in the lush Cinquantinaire park - or browse with his boyfriend in the chic designer shops of Galerie Louise.

Insiders talk of the possibility of a swanky apartment in the city’s exclusive Sablon district, known for its expensive wine bars and quaint cobbled streets. Another favourite is the Grand Place, which on summer days draws thousands of tourists to gaze at its spectacular Gothic architecture.

Mr Mandelson will have relocation costs, worth two months’ salary, to help him settle into Brussels. But the best thing about the job is its potential for Tony Blair-style globetrotting.

Officials in the European Commission’s 500-strong trade department predict he will spend around three-quarters of his time outside Brussels, brokering global trade deals.

When he is in town, he will undoubtedly take in the Mannequin Pis, the famous statue of a little boy taking a leak near the Grand Place.

Other tourist attractions include the Atomium museum, built for a 1958 Brussels exhibition in the shape of the atomic structure of iron, the Gothic towers of the town hall and the TinTin museum, which celebrates the famous Belgian comic character.

... then he can think about the job

GEORGE KEREVAN

A LITTLE coup has just taken place in Brussels that could cut the price of your weekly shopping.

The new head of the European Commission, Portugal’s Jose Barroso, has dumped 50 years of Franco-German dedication to fixing competition in favour of producers, particularly Europe’s heavily subsidised farmers.

Instead he and his new trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, want to force the pace in global free-trade negotiations that will ultimately give the consumer a better deal. But Mr Mandelson - now the EU’s chief trade negotiator - will have his work cut out.

Mr Mandelson and Mr Barroso want to implement the so-called Lisbon Agenda to make the EU the world leader in trade by 2010. But to do so they need to play a poker game of persuading other countries to remove their trade barriers in return for Europe dismantling its, while fending off internal French opposition to opening up EU markets to outsiders.

One of Mr Mandelson’s first problems is linked to the sugar in your coffee. Recently, the World Trade Organisation ordered the EU to stop subsidising its 60,000 sugar beet farmers to the tune of more than 1 billion a year.

Europe produces far more sugar than it needs and the surplus is sold abroad below cost, undercutting farmers in the developing world (not to mention raising EU taxes), but there will be intense pressure from sugar beet farmers in Germany, France and Italy to delay phasing out subsidies.

This will be just one of many issues where Mr Mandelson is likely to face opposition from the Chirac administration in Paris. In addition, the EU and the United States are on a trade collision course. The US is running a huge trade deficit and desperately needs to up its sales to Europe.

The Americans are convinced the EU makes it difficult to sell US products in Europe. For instance, the EU has blocked the import of most American GM foods since 1998, particularly corn. The US is also on the warpath over what it alleges are unfair government subsidies to Airbus which is now outselling Boeing.

BRUSSELS: THE FACTS

Population: 992,041.

Home to: NATO, European Commission and Parliament, Council of Ministers.

Landmark: Mannequin Pis, statue of a little boy urinating.

Attractions: Atomium museum, shaped like atomic structure of iron; historic Grand Place; Tintin museum.

Famous people from Brussels: Tintin, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Brel, Jean-Claude Van Damme.