And you thought Bob Silk was mad....

Hot on the tail of the written question by Kilroy on Marks and Sparks mirrors as discovered by Eliab, comes the most ridiculous written declaration from the European Parliament:

Written declaration on the introduction of a standard envelope, with a single Union-wide postage rate, for the purpose of exercising the right to write to any of the European institutions or bodies

Are they not allowed to at the moment, then?

The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. having regard to Article 21 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which entitles every European citizen to write, in his or her own language, to any of the Union institutions or bodies,
B. seeking to give effect to the right of every Union citizen to petition the European Parliament and to complain to the European Ombudsman, as defined in, respectively, Articles 194 and 195 of the EC Treaty, or to apply to any of the institutions listed in Article 7,
C. whereas most of the European institutions are based in Brussels and citizens living in Belgium can therefore correspond with them more cheaply,
D. having regard to the conception and perception which European citizens have of European citizenship and to the need to place access to the European institutions on a fairer footing,
1. Proposes that a standard envelope, with a single Union-wide postage rate, be introduced to enable the rights attaching to citizenship to be exercised on equal terms;
2. Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council and Commission.

What happens if they write in a different envelope with a different stamp? Will officials in the EU not be allowed to open them, on pain of facing a disciplinary hearing? What about if the envelope is right, but the wrong stamp is on there? The mind boggles at the possibilities.

But hey, at least they are concentrating on the important issue. It's not like the EU are trying to take control of Justice and Home Affairs or anything...