The European Union’s Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is drafting a new law to secure the European supply chain in both emergencies and normal market conditions. Some fear it will include measures that give the EU power to seize private property. 

Many MEPs did not hesitate to make jokes during their speeches, wishing their colleagues a “Merry Christmas.” Former Parliament President Antonio Tajani recalled the original meaning of the European flag—the crown of stars of the Virgin Mary and the blue of her mantle.

Vienna and New Orleans, despite everything, have remained themselves in the face of larger cultures, consciously or otherwise, attempting (with some success) to reduce them to mere sameness.