Feeling fresh

Good and bad news from Brussels on the struggle against ageism. The European Commission has decided to abolish the age limit of 32 on recruiting lawyers, economists and the like, raising the limit to 45 as a first step. The downside is that instead, applicants to grade A8, the usual entry point to Brussels jobs, must have something called "'freshness' of degree of three years". So Germans will be able to apply into their thirties, but Brits will be disqualified by the age of 25 on the grounds of degree mouldiness.