Brexit Metaphor No 106.
Imagine the EU as a giant gourmet hamburger. Britain would be the onion and the other EU countries would be the rest of the burger.
Sautéed onions contribute hugely to the taste of a burger. But before you can enjoy the onions in the burger, you would cry when peeling and chopping them; and then you would stink up your kitchen cooking them. Apart from all this onions are great, just like the UK: a valued but difficult member of the EU throughout its 46 years of membership.
What about the rest of the burger?
Germany and France are the buns: they hold the EU burger together. Germany, as an eminently reliable country, would be the bottom bun. While France would the the top bun, as top buns are often sprinkled with sesame seeds and some people are allergic to sesame. France can have a similar marmite-ish ("love it or hate it") effect.
As for the other parts of the EU burger:
Italy is the ketchup: it messes things up;
Spain is the lettuce: it freshens things up;
The Netherlands is the cheese: usually hard and mature but when placed inside a hot burger the cheese melts and soaks through the burger. Similarly, the Dutch are good team players within the EU.
All the other member states are the beef patty: bigger or smaller, they are all minced meat for the big countries, and they come prepared to different degrees, just like a rare or a well-done burger may differ.
The Netherlands is the cheese: usually hard and mature but when placed inside a hot burger the cheese melts and soaks through the burger. Similarly, the Dutch are good team players within the EU.
All the other member states are the beef patty: bigger or smaller, they are all minced meat for the big countries, and they come prepared to different degrees, just like a rare or a well-done burger may differ.
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| Hamburger (Source: Wikipedia) |
Notes:
1. Timeline: This article is part of a series of original #BrexitMetaphors published daily. A total of 106 have been posted so far and another 55 Brexit Metaphors will be published every day until the planned Brexit date of March 29, 2019.
2. Disclosure: The author has a master's degree in European Integration. He also thinks he knows a bit about business, economics, entrepreneurship, China, history, geography, nature, science and Rubik Cubes.
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