There are images that say more than all the speeches about equality. In the middle of the extreme heatwave baking Europe, the European Commission switched off the air conditioning in the Berlaymont building in Brussels - but only on the first to the seventh floors. The upper floors, exactly where the commissioners' offices are, stayed cool. Feudalism with air conditioning, someone might say.

The thirteen-floor building is home to president Ursula von der Leyen, 26 commissioners and around 3,000 staff. The latter got a text message: "Due to extreme weather conditions, the air conditioning from the first to the seventh floor will be switched off until the end of the day." One employee reported a temperature of 25.7 degrees even with the AC on, on the eighth floor. Imagine what it was like for those without it.

The reactions didn't take long. Anonymous officials described the decision as "feudalism," another called it "shameful." And indeed - the institution that constantly lectures on solidarity, a just transition and caring for the most vulnerable, at the first real heat shock decided who would sweat and who wouldn't. By floors. By hierarchy.

The heatwave also exposed a bigger truth about Europe along the way - only a fifth of households have air conditioning, and in Belgium even the trains were left without cooling, so parts of the lines were cancelled. But while ordinary Europeans battle the heat however they can, the image from the Berlaymont remains a symbol: even in the most advanced bureaucracy in the world, comfort still flows upward. Would it be any different in our part of the world? Probably not - but at least we don't pretend we're better.