Official Brussels has spent the past year and a half telling itself a reassuring story.

Yes, yes, the far right surged in last year's European election.

Historically so, but the number still allowed Ursula von der Leyen to declare that the center is holding.

There remains a majority in the center for strong Europe.

In other words, the center is holding.

The belief was that a broad, pro-European coalition,

the European People's Party, Socialists, Renew and Greens,

would keep running the show.

But the cracks showed up early.

The EPP flirted with the far right on a few files, hinted at cooperation on others, and then last week,

in the vote on the omnibus simplification package, the shift wasn't subtle anymore. The far-right

firewall didn't bend. It crumbled. The EPP looked to its left, didn't get what it wanted,

turned to its right, and passed a major piece of legislation with hard right and far right support.

And suddenly, the far right wasn't just louder. It was better prepared, more disciplined,

more coordinated, sharper suits, cleaner haircuts, a far right block that suddenly looks

confident and effective in the hemicycle. So what happens when the far right quits the role of protest movement and starts competing for real power?

And what does it do to Europe's centrist coalition when its largest party decides the old no-go zones are not so off-limits anymore.

And if this is the new normal in Brussels, what does that mean for ruling mainstream parties around the continent that are already on shaky ground?

I'm Sarah Wheaton, host of EU Confidential.

Later in the episode, we'll head to Denmark, where this week's local

elections delivered a very different kind of political shock. A left of center government

found itself punished by its own voters in Copenhagen, who instead wanted to go even more to

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