Letter: Pride in Brussels

Sir: I have been employed by the European Commission for nearly four years, having spent the previous 14 working for public and voluntary organisations in England. I have been extremely impressed with the calibre of many of my new colleagues, not to mention the ridiculously long hours they work. I object to your description of them as inert paper-shufflers ("The European public should elect their next President", 24 March).

I have watched this organisation produce first-class analysis and policy proposals on complex topics like railway management, road user charging and the accession of new member states. If proposals take a long time to come to fruition it is because final decisions rest, quite rightly, with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers - each of which has to balance hotly competing views.