EU dance The Protocol

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Andrew Rettman at EUobserver.com reports, “The days when King Henry VIII met King Francis I in a field full of cloth of gold are gone but VIPs still have big egos, with the EU’s protocol chief tells EUobserver about the intricate hierarchy of the family photo, the “paranoia” of US delegations and which EU leader has the firmest handshake.”

“Protocol is about respecting the dignity of the visitor and making sure everything goes smoothly”, says Austrian Hans Brunmayr, who has been welcoming VIPs at the EU’s headquarters in Brussels for five years.

So why do the EU people get pissed off when Mr GW Bush arrives in town?

Is it because three weeks before Mr Bush came, 200 US diplomats arrived for daily “walkthroughs” of how the visit would go, flying in lecterns from Washington, flying Bush’s EU badge-pin back to Washington for analysis and insisting that only his special guard of US marines could serve him so much as a glass of water.

Click here to read more of what silly protocol games are played that Hans Brunmayr has to make sure do not go wrong.

EU dance The Protocol