Brussels
The Belgian government this week proposed creating a Web site where Europeans could share their nightmarish tales of harassment at the hands of E.U. bureaucrats. Belgium already has its own such site, called Kafka.be, in reference to the author Franz Kafka, who wrote stories of arbitrary government persecution. Citizens can log on to report trouble with contradictory, vague, or bewilderingly detailed E.U. regulations. In just four months, Belgium’s site lodged 4,000 complaints, most of them from companies trying to do business in the E.U. “With an instrument such as www.kafka.eu, we will be able to react quickly to curb the European regulation mania,” said Vincent van Quickenborne, Belgium’s state secretary of administrative simplification.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The best shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2025The Week Recommends The world's biggest arts festival is back with an incredible line-up
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resortUnder the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
The 5 best TV reboots of all timeThe Week Recommends Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks
