When Jose Barroso set out his stall for further treaty changes at the European level, he used the phrase "political science fiction" to describe the potential recommendation that the Commission would champion. Avoiding the open and tedious door of satire, I do wonder if Barroso's words were chosen with an understanding of the term. Science fiction is a genre that embodies rationality, problem solving and futurist solutions as part of its suite.
All of these virtues are embodied within the self-fashioned identity of the Eurocracy. Later on, Barroso appealed for democratic changes that would counter Eurosceptic and Europhobic parties through rational argument and "unwavering convictions". It is these small admissions that tease out the fundamental and irrational contradictions underlying these statements of 'cake and eat it'. Rhetorical homage to democratic outcomes and parliamentary debates are undermined by this teleology of development towards a European unity. If you vote the right way, welcome to Enlightenment and reason! If you vote the wrong way, you belong to an irrational and populist horde of darkness.
Perhaps Jose Barroso was unwittingly remembering some famous dystopias and how some were achieved by the stupidity of elites.