25/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - As the legislature draws to a close, the President of the Socialist Group of the European Parliament, Enrique Baron, has made his colleagues a charming gift: the tale of "The Animals' Parliament", inspired by the "Scenes from the Public and Private Lives of Animals", illustrated in 1842 by Grandville. The pictures in this little book, based on an idea by Ambroise Perrin, a Socialist Group employee, accompany a story in four languages (French, English, German and Spanish), which describes moments from Parliamentary sessions, with the MEPs depicted by a range of animals: a crow, a fox, a dog, a tortoise, various types of horse, a tiger, a monkey, an elephant, a rhinoceros, not forgetting a snake and a chameleon, and various other pets or wild animals. The cover shows a circle of animals in the middle of a debate, with a lion for the president, wild animals on the left, pets on the right and molluscs in the middle. Enrique Baron admits that this will probably cause "the bitterness of sympathies interrupted", but is happy to take the risk, concluding: "one might be able to recognise familiar faces among the speakers". (http://www.socialistgroup.org ).