In the EU, every leader becomes a monarch

CORONATIONS HAVEEU taken many forms throughout European history. Spanish kings received a golden apple. French kings were doused in sacred oils from the Holy Ampulla in Reims. Napoleon went for a variation on a theme, oiling up and then crowning himself in the presence of a pope. Polish kings endured the alarming spectacle of waking up to an archbishop in their bedchamber on the big day.Coronations of a different sort happen whenever the ’s 27 leaders gather for the European Council, the club’s top institution, which began a two-day summit on October 21st. The Europa Building—a glass cube encasing a fluorescent oval nicknamed the “space egg” which hosts the gathering—may lack the pomp of Reims cathedral. Yet once presidents or prime ministers enter the ovum, they in effect become elected monarchs. For the next few hours, each leader abides by a royalist creed: éwith 27 national governments reduced to 27 individuals.