‘We want our bulldozer back!'

A few years ago car-jacking became a ridiculously common crime afflicting expatriate residents of Brussels, particularly those living close to the motorways on the edge of the city. On the evening of Thursday (21 June) the phenomenon came uncomfortably close to the centre of the Euroquarter with an added novelty – the perpetrators were the Belgian police. The victims were members of the Independence/Democracy (ID) group from the European Parliament, whose vehicle, an inflatable bulldozer, was seized and taken away and has not been seen since. The ID MEPs and other hangers-on were protesting near the EU summit against what they saw as attempts to bulldoze through a European constitution without putting it to referenda. The protesters claimed that they were in the “zone of free expression” between the Cinquantenaire Park and Rond-Point Schuman but the police clearly took a different view and accused the ID of lacking the necessary licence to drive (inflatable) heavy machinery – or something like that.
The bulldozer was imported from Latvia (which apparently is the place to go if you want something inflatable in a hurry) and cost the group €10,500 (postage included). Who says the Parliament gives the political groups too much money? Anyway, the ID campaigners would like their bulldozer back, because they want to take it to protest in Lisbon. It is quite distinctive: in conformity with Parliament's funding rules, it bears an ID logo, and the back wheels say European Commission and European Parliament, so it will not easily be confused with any other inflatable bulldozers.