Germany at the end of last year handed over the reins of the EU's rotating six-month presidency to Portugal, depriving Europe's powerhouse of the formal mandate to dictate what's what.
The transition leaves Germany with only*
- European Commission president
- 10% of all Commission Director-General posts
- 13.8% of all commission staff posts
- European Parliament Secretary General
- 18% of EP party president posts
- representing 34% of EP seats
- 15% of EP 'bureau' posts
- including 20% of EP 'quaestor' posts
- 19% of EP committee chairs
- 17% of European Central Bank executive positions
- Plus ECB's Chief Services Officer post
A German official said: "we let France keep the CAP and Strasbourg. Italy and Spain just get to stay. Belgium chooses the curtains. We do everything else."
*Source: an insomnia-driven trawl of the EU institutions' websites