Prof. Kees van Pijl describes these elites in his book The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class. I'm from NL where "our" Prins Bernhard was one of the initiators of the Bilderberg Group.

As a student, I personally witnessed how the European Students' Forum AEGEE was closely intertwined with the French Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) and its other European equivalents. So no, there are very clear codes to follow if you want to make a career in European mainland politics. Our jonkvrouwe Kasja Ollongren's carreer is a perfect example of this.