Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission

by Derk Jan Eppink

For more than seven years, Derk-Jan Eppink worked as a senior official behind the scenes in the European Commission. The Commission is not well-known to the general public, but makes decisions which affect the daily lives of almost half a billion Europeans. Now that he has left the Commission to take up a new job in New York, Eppink looks back on his time in Europe. Eppink's book gives the reader a rare and ironic glimpse of life in Europe's corridors of power. In his inimitable style, he sketches a portrait of the 'European Mandarins', the European Commission's senior administrators, of whom a German Euro-Commissioner recently said 'they have too much power and are too little controlled'.

Genres: Politics

386 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Dutch journalist, politician in Belgium and the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for European Commissioners Bolkestein (1999–2004) and Kallas (2004–2007).

In 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament for the Flemish party List Dedecker ( ECR ).

In 2019 he became the head candidate for the Dutch party Forum for Democracy,

Reviews

[Bert Corluy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bijzonder boeiend boek over hoe de wereld achter de gordijnen van de europese besluitvorming er uit ziet. Zeer vlot geschreven zodat dit boek leest als een trein. Een bijzondere prestatie wanneer de inhoud zelf soms gortdroog is, zoals het goekeuringsproces van de dienstenrichtlijn. Eppink werkte op het kabinet van Frits Bolkestein natuurlijk en de rebelse natuur van deze bijzonder intelligente politicus geeft meer dan genoeg kruiden aan de fond van het boek. Absolute aanraders voor liefhebbers van het genre maar ook een uitstekend startpunt voor wie een eerste maal zich wil verdiepen in hoe politieke besluitvorming tot stand komt.

[Lilu · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems that the author was in need for money and/or public recognition. Otherwise - who would know a commissioner's assistant?

His opinion of himself and his writing skills is overrated. OK, I have to admit I seem to remember some interesting pages, but I'm not really sure, as it took ages to get through the book (I don't like to leave unfinished stuff). Plus, it is extremely chaotic. Gives the impression he just took out a handful of notes and randomly copied them in a book, adding a few "funny" (NOOOT!) anecdotes.

As I said, his writing is bad - it is a dull person's attempt to be entertaining. I gave the second star only because I'm guessing it could be interesting for someone who is interested in the EU politics and decision making processes in general. In that aspect the book is quite honest - shatters your illusions that anyone really cares for the ultimate good. No, world-influencing-decisions are taken mostly as a compromise or as multilateral back-scratching.

I still have 50 pages to go (will get bored to death, I'm sure).

If you need a very convincing reason why not to read this book, here it is: Derk-Jan Eppink calls the European Commission "Princess".

[Eggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, extremely entertaining and plenty of food for thought. If you're interested in an insider's view inside the Commission, this is your book. Also, if you are fond of European affairs, there are plenty of familiar faces and interesting details to take note of. Keep in mind the liberalisation of postal services - this is a very nice discourse thereof.

[Nico Spruit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humoristisch, inzichtelijk, toegankelijk geschreven. Leuk voor wie geïnteresseerd is in de machinaties van de Europese Unie (op kritische danwel lovende wijze).

[Freya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kniha o zákulisí Evropské Komise z pera bývalého novináře. Jak sám v knize úvádí, dříve jako novinář se snažil pod pokličku Evropské Komise nahlédnout, jako její člen všechna tajemství řádně ukrýval před světem. Až do vydání této knihy.
Skvěle napsaná příručka zákulisních pletich vysoké politiky. Autor čtenáří v žádném případě nenasazuje růžové brýle a "na plnou hubu" odhaluje, jak se "vaří" politika. Ani on sám se nijak nepřikrašluje a otevřeně přiznává pravý důvod své loajality a ochoty hasit požáry způsobené svým komisařem a to udržet si vlastní pozici. Což je jistě sympatické.
Nebojí se popsat scénky ze života "mandarínů na Princeznině dvoře", nebojí se ani jmenovat.
Kniha je psána zabavným, vtipným a glosujícím stylem a čte se velmi dobře. Na závěr autor shrnuje své poznatky ohledně EU a přidává i postřehy a názory, jak by mohla do budoucna fungovat.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts badly. Via a tortuous and unconvincing analogy the author describes the European Commission as a Princess, and he consistently refers to it as such throughout the rest of the book, which very quickly becomes incredibly irritating. He also never stops referring to senior Commission officials as "mandarins", which gives a misleading and slightly unfavourable impression of what are in fact a wide variety of jobs.
He also seems to think that his workplace anecdotes and jokes are a lot funnier than they actually are.
On the other hand he does have some interesting things to say about how the institutions work (or how they don't) and this makes it a useful peek inside the committees and cabinets of the EU.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. I'm not sure I share the author's sense of humour, however his stories of getting into and out of various disasters in the brussels bureaucracy and even managing to pull a few fast ones of his own, makes for a good read -with some genuinely funny moments.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting for those who work for the EU, even if it would be very depressing if his truth was the whole truth. I would rename it "Life of a European dinosaur". Not a book to recommend to anyone who does not have an insider`s interest.

[Panu Litmanen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent and well-written view from inside the EC.

[Laurens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarisch relaas van een 'eurokritische' roepende in een eurofiele woestijn.