Mark Mardell 03/11/05: Fig leaf needed

Hampton Court: Starting point for the path to a "modern budget"?

The BBC's Europe Editor, Mark Mardell, continues his weekly diary on events in the European Union.

You can read it on the BBC News website every Thursday.

This week Mark looks back to the Hampton Court summit and describes a mishap for the Mardell family on a Brussels tram.

BUDGET BARGAINING

Tony Blair succeeded in keeping the budget off the agenda at Hampton Court and it seemed that the other leaders couldn't be bothered to argue over their real points of difference. The hard negotiations will start in earnest when the foreign ministers next meet. Britain has brightly circulated a paper outlining the need for "new priorities" and "a path to a modern budget". For which, read that Blair is pleading for a decent-sized fig leaf on agricultural reform before he talks about giving up the British rebate. But it's pretty clear he'll get nothing more than vague promises of future action.

BLAIR V HIMSELF

I notice an over-eager sub-editor has corrected my online article on Hampton Court, so that my original sentence about "President Blair taking Prime Minister Blair to one side" becomes "President Chirac... etc".

Click here for the published version of the article

The point I was trying to make is that, as the President of the Council trying to reach a deal on the budget, Blair's toughest opponent is himself: it may well be that if he is going to go through the pain of giving up some of the British rebate he might as well do it during the British presidency and get some credit - at least among other EU states - rather than look as though he's knuckled under to the Austrians or Finns next year.

INFAMOUS CRIMINAL

I've been off for a couple of days for half term and am beginning to rethink my upbeat appraisal of the Brussels public transport system.

The tram: Being foreign is not an excuse for not having a ticket

It's not that the repeated playing of "Waterloo Sunset" and the orange plastic seats on the metro are getting to me: it's the tram police. Ever since we've arrived my three-year-old has been begging to go on a tram: he's almost as excited by them as he is by diggers and police cars. But our first trip on one turned into an expensive disaster.

The whole family trooped on, looked at the driver, who said nothing, and sat down wondering how to buy tickets. Then four inspectors arrived, chucked us off the tram and fined us 72 euros (£49, $87), despite our protestations that we were bewildered and very stupid foreigners. I shouldn't complain, I should have found out how to buy a ticket, but it seemed to me that the pasty, weasel-faced, mustachioed inspectors took delight in frightening a three-year-old child and an 80-year-old woman.

At least I am now an infamous international criminal.

BATS AND BROOMSTICKS

Half term coincides with Toussaint, All Saints Day, which is of course overshadowed by Halloween the day before. In Belgium they seem even keener on it than in Britain: pumpkins stand in front of every other house, large models of ugly witches are on sale and the shops do a roaring trade in broomsticks and plastic bats. But Belgian friends of my age say that it wasn't celebrated in their youth. It's the same story in Britain, and Germans and French I know don't remember it either. I know Halloween dates back to Celtic times but when did all the recent stuff start? It's an American import, I guess, but where did they get it from? I've read somewhere it was Irish immigrants who took it to the States - but was it really a big deal in 19th Century Ireland?

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Please use the form below to send in your comments on issues raised in the diary:

I live in Brussels with my family. Your experience on the tram was typical. You were lucky the driver didn't close the doors on you as you were disembarking, that is a trick that seems to give them endless pleasure. On Saturday my family came close to tragedy when a speeding vehicle shot a red light as we were crossing the road. It missed my nine-year-old daughter by a whisker. The roads of Brussels are a menace, and I would urge all travellers and tourists not to let their guard down for an instant.
Gary, Brussels

My girlfriend and I had a similar experience - we expressly asked the bus driver for tickets but he refused to serve us and the ticket cops got us at the next stop. I wondered at the time if the driver and cops might have been in cahoots. The the only consolation was the fantastic Belgian beer we drank to console ourselves!
Rob, Guildford, Surrey

Hallowe'en was a low key affair in the states in the 40s-50s. Its growing popularity here is now attributed to the secularization of our society: religious feasts are down-played or ignored. Hallowe'en has been stripped of its original meaning, and has become an excuse for big parties (for adults). Many people (my brother-in-law included) marry on Hallowe'en and guests are encouraged to wear costumes.
Mary Farmer, Haddonfield, NJ USA

My wife and I were in Brussels last year, and danged if I could figure out the trams either. It turns out, you buy a ticket outside, then step on and swipe it on a reader located inside the tram and which is not visible from the outside. But you won't know that until you step inside, at which point, you'd better already have bought a ticket. Making matters more confusing, the subway shares stations with the tram system but operates on a pay-to-enter-the station basis. I don't speak French or Flemish, so it took me several days of observation, trial, and error to figure this system out. And to top it off, by observations were that enforcement of this whole system is basically on the honor code--if I wanted to enter a subway station without paying, there wasn't much to stop me. So I sympathize, I really do.
Marcus C. Stubbles, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, USA

Before emigrating as a child to the US (1970) at age 6 I remember Halloween in Leeds - so it must have been celebrated to some extent. About all I can remember though was making scary masks out of colored paper in school. My first Hallowen in the States was quite a shock - going door to door and saying trick or treat. Over here we're taught that it originated in the British Isles. It's a bit like Christmas - celebrated in many countries but a bit different in each w/ local customs. Modern media has introduced both American-style Christmas and now Halloween to the rest of the world. As for trick or treat - the worst anyone got was soap on their windows.
Nick Maddalena, Springfield, Ohio US

Sorry you have been fined on the Brussels public transport. For your information there was recently a program on Flemish TV whereby the CEOs of companies are to do for one day the job of several their staff. So the CEO of one of the (many) public transport systems in Belgium had to play the job of the inspector. When the CEO catched a young lady offender and probably because of the cameras around she suggested to give the CEO a kiss if he would let her go, the CEO went for the kiss.
Dirk Deschuttere, Leuven

In the 1980s, I used to think how civilized, if slightly naive, it was that certain European countries (e.g. Belgium, Switzerland) trusted their urban populations not to vandalize complicated, cash-filled ticket machines at tram and bus stops...And where do we find such on-street ticket machines today? Dublin's LUAS and London's buses. Like the growth of pavement cafés, that's evidence of Europe's creeping civilizing mission in the "anglo" world, in my book. [Probably evidence of better tamper-alarm technology too!]
Nick, London, formerly of Antwerp

Clearly, the BBC must pay 'fat cat' salaries to its senior reporters if Mr. Mardell et famille have been in Brussels several months and not yet had occasion to familiarise themselves with public transport. He was also very unlucky, I've been in Brussels over 2 years, use public transport every day, and had my ticket checked precisely twice. Given his somewhat hapless experience, One tip he should bear in mind is that, whatever he does, he should keep his passport on him - the real police do regular sweeps of the metro stations looking for illegal immigrants. Men who can't produce ID are ordered to drop their trousers on the spot - to stop them running off, before being carted off to the police station when the platform has been fully checked.
John, Brussels, Belgium

I live in the Netherlands rather than Belgium. Here you can buy bus/tram tickets either from various shops beforehand or from the bus driver: but if you buy them on the bus they cost nearly double what you pay if you buy them beforehand.
Dave, Netherlands

I'd love to see Mark travel on a bus in Kenya where you a) have to fight for a ticket (buses only take as many passengers as there are seats and tickets are sold on the bus) and b) have to shout (in Kiswahili of course) across the whole bus for the driver to put in a toilet stop on long haul journeys because there are no scheduled stops. The phrase is "tafadhali usimame ili mimi niweze kwenda chooni"... just in case you (Mark) ever take the kids to Kenya!
Michael Bauer, Glasgow

London, too, can boast customer (un)friendly bus inspectors viz the man who threw me and my 2 small children off a bus on a dark winter's evening and confiscated my gold card saying it had been tampered with ( it hadn't) . Result : 2 very upset children,1 angry mum ; 1 inspector disciplined for his behaviour and not even offering me the means of carrying on our homeward journey ( required) and TfL having to pay me £80 in excess fares accrued during the 2 months it took them to agree my ticket was valid!
Denise Latner, London, England

Almost all transport systems I know use the "buy in advance, cancel on travel" system. If you want real deviants, go to Budapest - unlike other European capitals, the ticket is not valid in the whole subway system, but a new ticket needs to be punched at all changes. Of course there are no signs to this effect.
Tivadar, UK / Hungary

Instead of looking at the driver, sitting and wondering how, why couldnt they actually ASK for tickets? Stupid but typically British attitude.
Yiorgos, Paris, France, (UK for 3years)

I use the Brussels Metro everyday to get to work, stamp my ticket through the machine everyday, and in over 2 years have never had my ticket checked. That said, the one ticket for all public transport is cheap and works well, and can be reused as one moves from a metro to a tram to a bus. A 10-ride ticket, monthly, and even annual passes are all available, with companies encouraged to subsidise their staff.
A Evans, Brussels, Belgium

The history of "Trick'O'Treating" can be traced back to the early celebrations of All Soul's Day in Britain. The poor would go begging and the housewives would give them special treats called "soulcakes". This was called "going a-souling", and the "soulers" would promise to say a prayer for the dead. Over time the custom changed and the town's children became the beggars. As they went from house to house they would be given apples, buns, and money. During the Pioneer days of the American West, the housewives would give the children candy to keep from being tricked. The children would shout "Trick or Treat!". "
Sean, Tennessee, USA

Firstly I'm from Kent and can tell you that Halloween was celebrated there back in the 70s and 80s too. We used turnips for lanterns, or if one couldn't be found even a large potato would do. Apple bobbing and dressing up was also common. I remember trick or treating too, but how far back that goes I'm not sure, but I agree that came from the USA. As a regular visitor to Brussels tram tickets are easy to get hold of and I'm very surprised Mark was so naive in this. You get them from shops, machines or from the driver. Just ask next time Mark!!!
Floyd Gleaves, England

With regard to your experience on the Brussels metro, you simply expose yourself as the arrogant Brit abroad, who does not even have the initiative to ask how to pay a simple fare. You should not hide behind a 3 year old and an 80 year old in order to seek sympathy in the hope of camouflaging your own obvious inadequacies.
Hugh McLean, Newton Mearns, Scotland

I seem to remember that in the 60s, we went 'guising', and the cry was 'a penny for the guy'. The money we collected was to buy our fireworks for November 5th.
Jim, Banff, Scotland

And now for what Halloween actually was in America itself in the first place... According to my dad, who was born in 1914, the accent definitely used to be on the 'trick' aspect rather than the 'treat.' Adults ponied up the candy or they regretted it. In fact, they might not be given the choice. One of the favorites was to wrap dog shit in newspaper, put the assembled weapon on porch, set the newspaper on fire, ring the bell, and run off. Householder opens door, stamps on burning newspaper... Anyway, the point is that the holiday hasn't always existed in its present form here either. I suppose the current format is less exciting, but being 47 myself now, it's probably just as well I don't have to spend the whole evening fending off vandal hordes of eight year olds.
Colin Wright, Richmond, California, USA

Fines for non-payument are an occupational hazard on the over-crowded Brussels tram system - think of it as a form of transport-tax and a even a rite of passage - to make up for the lack of manned ticket desks, working ticket machines etc. All to do with Belgium being in the grip of an ultra-liberal cost cutting agenda by its Thatcher inspired prime-minister. The sort of person that Prseident Blair probably liked at Hampton Court, but Prime-Minister Blair might have a problem with his politics.
Mark Turner, Brussels

I lived in Belgium for 4 years and have never had any problems with finding out information on where to go how to pay and what not! I think it's a question of will. If you hop on to a means of public transport with the attitude of a clueless, naive tourist, you will never find your way around anything let alone buying tickets! As for friendly personnel, you can't beat the Belgian public service. It's good and it works. Not two things I can say about the UK!
Rishad , Aberdeen, Scotland

It is possible to buy your tram ticket directly from the driver as you board the tram, or from most newsagents found near tram stops. But the drivers are not always very helpful especially when the tram is very busy. Fare dodgers are a real problem in Brussels, but all too often its very difficult, nigh on impossible to buy a ticket on a crowded tram and you are at the mercy of the Ticket Inspectors if you are unlucky enough to get caught. I had a similar experience when I first arrived in Brussels. Buy your tickets in advance Mark, and avoid the hassle.
Dan Russell, Brussels (UK ex pat)

Mark Mardell's experience with Brussels tram ticket control looks weird to me: I have been using the public transport here for ten years and have not been asked for my ticket more than twice. The trick is to use the system at peak times: No self-respecting Belgian controller would work his way through a crowded bus, metro or tram. Mark's problem with understanding how to buy a ticket calls in my view for some European harmonisation. It's these practical issues where Europeans could be made to feel at home in other parts of the EU.
Ronald Vopel, Brussels, Belgium

I did exactly the same thing when I first used a tram in Brussels - but didn't get stopped. In fact, you can buy tickets from the tram driver (since there are no ticket machines at above ground stations, only the underground ones, as far as I can tell) but there is no sign on the tram to tell you this. I guess Mark could have asked the driver or any of the other passengers, though. In any case, since the tickets are transferrable from metro to bus to tram in Brussels, Mark could easily have bought one from a machine and used it on the tram. But basically I think he was just unlucky to have been stopped - perhaps the Belgian police recognised him and picked on him for writing naughty things about the EU for the BBC? I came up to Glasgow 40 years ago from rural England and was suprised by how much more Halloween was celebrated than down there. The long tradition of kids going Guising in wierd costumes - doing a turn (song, joke, poem ...) to earn a treat (sweets, fruit or cake) still goes strongly here. We had 20 in last Monday and the office was flooded next morning with my colleagues bringing in their left overs to be shared out. Here American trick or treating is strongly discouraged.
John Hansen, glasgow

Chris Jones, Brussels, Belgium

I grew up in Clitheroe, NE Lancs, England in the shadow of Pendle Hill famous for its 17th century witches. During the 60's and 70's I remember similar things to the other correspondents with swede lanterns (was apple bobbing part of this as well or was that bonfire night?) and everyone dressing up as witches many of whom proceeded up Pendle Hill in their thousands, which apparently they still do. The alien version of Halloween that we see today I put down to crass commercial interests exploiting children and young adults' exposure to the American version in Hollywood films such as ET and, presumably, the Halloween series itself; ever ready to part the public from their money on tat. At the risk of getting ahead of myself there is something else I remember. Although not directly connected but around the same time I vividly recall Mischief Night which, if memory serves correctly, is the night before bonfire night, i.e. the 4th of November. This involved such jolly japes as taking peoples gates off their hinges or ringing doorbells and then running away. This was enormous fun for little boys but on reflection something not probably shared by the weary householder. Ah happy days ...
Alistair, Monnickedam, Netherlands

Halloween was celebrated in central Scotland in the 1960s, and probably before. The pattern was somewhat different to the American model, but clearly of the same origin. Lanterns were carved from swedes, and children dressed up and went from door to door begging treats. I don't remember the threat element of "Trick or Treat". It seems likely that it originated in Scotland or Ireland and was taken to the USA by the many emigrants.
Jim Boyle, Birmingham, West Midlands

I am in my fifties and remember going Guising at halloween it involved dressing up in disguise and knocking on neighbours doors and asking if they wanted any guisers...we usually perfomed a song or a dance for which we were given treets or coppers...my brothers also went guising in the forties - so no american influence there..
Bill Connor, Tayport, Fife, Scotland

Halloween was celebrated in the North of Scotland when I was young, (over 50 years ago!). Lanterns were made from Swede turnips. You went "guising", dressing up to go round the houses. A poem or song had to be performed before getting a reward, usually nuts or coppers. Trick or treat is purely American in origin, as is the pumpkin lantern. I still enjoy it though it's I who does the paying out now.
Peter Bradshaw, UK

Yes, Halloween was very big in Scotland in the 20th Century, to my memory. It was for children who disguised themselves in fancy dress, thus being called 'guisers' and traipsed around the town, knocking on every door, performing a song, poem or dance, or telling (probably terrible) jokes in return for nuts, oranges and a little money. I always dressed up as a witch, with authentic hat, cloak, broomstick and make-up. There was no suggestion of our intimidating householders (the words 'Trick or Treat' were unknown), and there was no suggestion that there could be any danger to us children if we did this. We also sometimes had Halloween parties with turnip lanterns (although I admit pumpkins are easier to hollow out), ducking for apples (hilarious) and eating treacle-covered scones on a string with your hands tied behind your back (more than hilarious, but don't wear your Versace). It was just great fun with a hint of mystery - after all it was Samhain, the end of the Celtic year.
M Parker, London, UK

I remember "trick-or-treaters" in my childhood in the West Midlands, in the '60's. The treats were always apples or oranges or a few small coins. There wasn't the American hysteria over Halloween though, it was a small affair, and not indulged in by many. As far as I'm aware, you can blame Steven Spielberg; it was his film 'E.T.' that really popularised the American style Halloween over here and in Europe.
Rob, London, UK

Halloween was big in Northern Ireland when I was a child (the 1970's & 80's). We had turnip lanterns (pumpkins are not native to Ireland), firework displays and scary masks and costumes. In the late 80's and early 90's it started to becomne Americanised - "trick or treat" is definitely not part of the original. So I guess the answer to the question is Yes - Halloween was and is big in Ireland. We can only apologise for letting the Americans inflict it on the rest of the world...
Andrew Miller, ex-Belfast, Ireland

Relax about the "Americans" inflicting Halloween on the rest of the world. You do NOT have to buy into American culture if you do not want to. Blame yourselves.
Tara, Philadelphia, USA

Free riders are a plague on the Brussels public transport system, so if they get caught, they should be made to pay up seriously. I can't imagine a BBC correspondent suddenly being naîve in these matters, and the inspectors looking pasty, weasel-faced and mustachioed is beside the question (if they ever did, I've never met that kind of inspector in Brussels).
Luc Beerten, Brussels, Belgium

Its not only the trams in Brussels that make it (almost) impossible to buy a ticket, visit Prague, board a tram somewhere well away from the center and you'll find buying a ticket impossible. No machines, no helpful (or remotely friendly) drivers selling tickets, just guerrilla like ticket inspector ready to pounce. The only solution is to have some emergency tickets on you, or hope that it's the inspectors' tea break.
David, Prague, Czech Rep.

So now we know. Mark Mardell (and other BBC correspondents in European capitals?) doesn't use public transport. If he did, he would have known what to do. Or he could have used his journalistic skills and asked around his colleagues - especially the locals. I've been going to European capitals for over 30 years, and all that time the integrated transport systems use the "buy your travel payment first and cancel it (or part of it if it is a carnet) as you begin your journey". It's even been the same sort of system in London for a number of years.
Peter, Herts. UK

Perhaps if Mark Mardell had been from any other country except the UK he would have managed to ask the driver for a ticket in French (or alternatively used a ticket machine like everybody else in Brussels).
P Nuttall, Brussels, Belgium

P. Nuttall from Brussels: Would someone from Ireland or Holland or Germany or Austria or Spain or Portugal or Greece or Itlay, etc have been able to ask in French? How do you arrive at your bizarre conclusion??
Glenn , Bury, UK

Yes, Halloween still is the best night of the year in Ireland.
Samhain, Munich, Germany

Halloween has long been celebrated in the North (if not all) of England (as well as the rest of the British Isles) - But many English people have forgotten their cultural origins. As a youngster, I used to dress up and visit my neighbours with my Jack 'o Lantern made out of a turnip. Halloween precedes All Saints Day (The day of the dead), but the origins are the same. It was the end of the Celtic new year (November, being known as Samhain in Gaelic), and the nights drew in. This was seen as a magical time when the dead came back to the world, and spirits could pass between the underworld and ours. Jack (a spirit in the form of the flame) would be trapped in a lantern, given a fierce face, to scare sprits away from your house. The introduction of the pumpkin from the US certainly makes a more impressive lantern than the British/Irish turnip. The act of begging "trick or treat" surely came from the US, but I believe it has its origins in Ireland where there was a collection for end of year (samhain) celebrations.
Steve Parkin, Mulhouse, France (ex. Sheffield, UK)

I too remember Halloween celebrations in the early 60's in my North Yorkshire home including swede (though we called them turnips) lanterns, apple bobbing and 'haunting' door to door. I was having this discussion a few days ago with a colleague who grew up in Essex and he didn't remember celebrating Halloween before ET. Is it something to do with the North remaining more closely in touch with pagan roots?
Mike Gibson, London,England

Two things: Firstly, Halloween was celebrated while I was growing up in Ireland in the 70's and 80's. It was a simple affair with homemade masks, crabapples, barm brac, hollowed out turnips and visiting houses to collect pennies, nuts, apples and sometimes sweets. In later years it seemed to become more violant with teenagers roaming the streets throwing water balloons and flour bombs or just beating people up.

Secondly, in Amsterdam where I now live, it is always clear that you need to buy a ticket on the tram but there is not much control. Tourists used to get away with not paying but not anymore (although the chance of being caught is small). A few years ago I was inter-railing with some friends and we were caught in Prague without a ticket on the metro. The language is Slavic and there were no English instructions so it was genuinely impossible to know how to buy a ticket. The inspectors only targeted us because we were foreigners and therefore easy victims with relatively more cash than the locals. They didn't bother checking anybody else in the carraige and I wouldn't be surprised if they pocketed the fine.
Patrick Hayden, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The tram system sounds much like Florentine buses - except that in Florence, there are no ticket machines so you have to figure out which shops sell the tickets and leave time to find and buy before the bus arrives. Once you know the system, it's easy, but you'd be hard pressed to figure it out without help from a local.
bella, stratton, UK

I must contend that the Moscow metro system is the worst I have (attempted) to use. One a university-organized trip us students were given a poorly photocopied map and some free time to explore the city. Two friends and I were ambitious and decided to take the metro to a museum, which was fine until we had to transfer trains at one station. After hunting through the underground, we decided to ride up the escelator to check the signs at the street entrance. There were no signs and we never found the other train line, but the elevator ride cost us 10 rubles - we had to buy another ticket to get back down to the metro line!
Kristen, studying in Copenhagen, Denmark

I am just gob-smacked to read that Mark Mardell does not know how to use the Brussels public transport system. It is cheap (compared to London), integrated with the metro, bus, train and trams and you can buy a ticket on the tram/bus but you have to ask. As for the comment about not speaking French, it is one of the Belgian national languages with Dutch and German so you should not expect to be able to speak English and automatically be understood (although this is often the case) - try speaking French in the UK and see how far you get!
Richard, Brussels

Bats ´n Broomsticks etc, re door knocking and ´scarpering´. I come from Essex and our variation was called ´knock down ginger´(origen someone?). We saved old rope, string, cord and come halloween, where ´tricks´ were in order, and in terraced houses where two front doors were close, we tied the door knocker of one house to the door knocker of the next. We knocked on both doors, stood back a little and watched the results. Hilarious!
Tony, Gandia, Spain

I grew up in South Yorkshire in the 70s and we too had a 'mischevious night' on the 4th November - as Alastair did in Clitheroe. Maybe that was a northern thing. We would also do Haloween (sheets over heads to make us ghosts) and then go round the next few nights with a Guy in a wheelbarrow doing "penny for the guy." As I remember mischevious night was sometimes used to revenge oneself on those who'd been measly during the Haloween begging or penny for the guy routine that followed it - though no "trick" was ever threatened at the time.
nick, Manchester, UK

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