Visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week was one of those Ozymandian moments. Ozymandias, as readers of The Economist will instantly recall, was an Egyptian pharaoh who inspired a poem by Shelley, in which a "traveller from an antique land" comes across a ruined statue in the desert, on which are inscribed the words: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!" It is true that the first reaction of many visitors to the European Parliament is not to despair, but rather to head off for a good lunch and then file an expenses claim. But recent developments in the European Union represent such a stunning setback to the entire political vision that is embodied by the parliament that one cannot help wondering whether its grandiose buildings could yet suffer the fate of Ozymandias's statue.
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