DOUR European Council president Herman Van Rompuy has launched a bizarre bid to put a smile on the faces of world leaders.
He has sent them each a Christmas gift of a collection of essays on happiness.
It is the poetry-writing Brussels boss’s bonkers attempt to bring a little levity into the lives of the likes of David Cameron, Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel as they face a world financial crisis brought on by an embattled euro and faltering economies.
The gift of The World Book Of Happiness, a collection of short essays by experts from 50 nations, is all the more surprising given the boring reputation of a man once dismissed as a clown.
EU leaders may pay particular attention to a segment entitled, “Create your own currency that no one else can buy”, while another section suggests that “money can buy happiness if we spend it on each other”.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “For a man who is causing misery to tens of millions of people it’s a deeply ironic gift.”