“IN BRUSSELS, no one can hear you scream.” Such is the cynical one-liner from Borgen, a Danish political television series, in which the prime minister seeks to dispose of uncomfortable colleagues by appointing them to the European Commission. Brussels is indeed filled with second-rate and superannuated politicians whose doings go unnoticed back home. But the parlour game of European Union appointments that will be played in the coming months, when the big Brussels jobs come up for renewal, will matter more than usual.The EU now intrudes deeply into domestic politics as a result of the economic crisis. This is especially true of euro-zone countries, though even Britain, a euro “out”, is torn over whether to stay in the EU. Moreover, the European election in May is likely to see the rise of anti-European parties of both left and right that will exploit Brussels to make an assault on domestic politics. Another factor is that the European election will for the first time see a dubious experiment with what Germans call Spitzenkandidaten, or “leading candidates”.The theory is that the president of the European Commission should no longer be…
