Commissioner Joaquin Almunia expressed deep concern Monday that inflation in the euro zone is around 4 percent. Twenty-four hours later share prices crashed around the world on fears of inflation, near record oil prices and fears of further bank losses. An interesting place to be while this was happening was the European Parliament, bastion of democracy and the will of  the people. A lively debate was going on in the so-called members bar between a group  of three right wing and one left wing MEPs. It was not about the global or even the European financial crises but about why they  were avoiding a three day junket in Paris “for fear of being caught on camera by the bloody media”.

The largest centre right group of Christian Democrats and British Conservatives were heading off for three days of French Follies that includes a €30,000 lunch aboard a luxury river boat described as a ‘floating palace’ and a whirl of receptions and sightseeing put at a cost of €300,000 to European taxpayers.

The trip was described as ‘an act of defiance’ by one senior official who added that while the parliament was fiddling citizens life savings were being wiped out, pension funds were in mortal danger and the economy heading for  the rocks. The European Central bank is confidently expected to raise euro zone interest rates Thursday to combat rising inflation as the price of food inexorably increases.

“I am not going to  Paris because I  don’t want to feature in all the Sunday papers. Poor people in the UK are finding it  ever harder to cope as their living costs go up and their incomes go down. It is small wonder that there is total disillusionment across the  European Union with the way the EU is running things and behaving,” said one MEP who stayed in Brussels.

As MEPs set off to imitate the Roman Emperor Nero there was more bad news. The Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he would not ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the aftermath of the Irish no  vote on it. With the Czech Republic taking a similar stance the position of President Nicolas Sarkozy and other EU leaders who  want to press ahead is looking as dodgy as the financial markets.

Moreover, the Danes have picked a decidedly unportentious moment to suggest that they will hold a referendum on membership of the euro currency. Add to that that if suggested changes were to be made to the Lisbon Treaty to accommodate the Irish and, it now seems others, the Austrians have said they will hold a referendum on the changed treaty.

There will be music at the Palace of Versailles this week MEPs might pause to consider the fate of its previous incumbents.