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Editorial
Nature 448, 105 (12 July 2007) | doi:10.1038/448105a; Published online 11 July 2007
A geographical error
Abstract
The most suitably qualified person should secure an important post, in almost all instances. But competing interests among nations mean that this is not always the case in Europe.
The poster most likely to be found hanging in the offices of large European organizations is not a picturesque Alpine view, but rather a version of a much-loved cartoon known as 'European hell', in which the British are the cooks, the French are the mechanics, the Germans are the lovers, and everything is organized by the Italians. This gentle mockery of national stereotypes conceals a much more true-to-life hell of the European bodies themselves, as they try to function efficiently while being politically beholden to national interests.
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