European Summit 6/22/19

A European Summit of the Heads of state and Government of the European Union was held in Brussels in the buildings of the Council of the European Union on Thursday and Friday.  Check out some of the new decisions made at this meeting online.

European Union External Action Service 6/21/19

The European External Action Service is the diplomatic service and foreign and defense ministry of the European Union.  Our visit to this agency included two speakers today.  The first topic was Role and Priorities of the EEAS and the other was EU-US Relations.  Michael Pavuk, US Political Policy Officer, was our last speaker.

Adrian's Koetsenruijeter, Advisor, Inspection Division

An interesting side note, I met a gal in the bathroom who works here. She has an interesting job and is from Washington state.

360 Photos

https://theta360.com/users/337897

Check out these cool 360 pictures of a variety of places and activities that we encountered along the way.

Photo Potpourri of the Week

Visiting Bruges, Belgium 6/21/19

A group of us grabbed the train to Bruges. Here are some pictures.

Bruegel 6/21/19

Matt Dann, Secretary General

http://bruegel.org

Bruegel (BRUssels European and Global Economics Laboratory) is a think tank. Their mission is to contribute to the quality of economic policy making in Europe through open, fact based and policy relevant research, analysis and discussion.  Matt spoke to us about various aspects of this organization.
Take a look at the link above.

NATO 6/20/19

We visited NATO today.  Our speaker was from Spokane, Washington!!
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on April 4, 1949.

Romanian Ambassador to the EU 6/19/19

The presidency of the Council rotates among the EU member states every 6 months. During this 6-month period, the presidency chairs meetings at every level in the Council, helping to ensure the continuity of the EU's work in the Council.

Member states holding the presidency work together closely in groups of three, called 'trios'. This system was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. The trio sets long-term goals and prepares a common agenda determining the topics and major issues that will be addressed by the Council over an 18 month period. On the basis of this programme, each of the three countries prepares its own more detailed 6-month programme.

The current trio is made up of the presidencies of the Romania, Finland and Croatia. Romania currently holds the presidency.

Today we listened to Luminita Odobescu, Romanian Ambassador to the EU.

We were gifted a bag and necklace at this presentation.

European Parliament 6/19/19

Today we visited the European Parliament.
The European Parliament is an important forum for political debate and decision-making at the EU level. The Members of the European Parliament are directly elected by voters in all Member States to represent people’s interests with regard to EU law-making and to make sure other EU institutions are working democratically.

We listened to a presentation on "The legislative procedures of the European Union and the role of the three main institutions."

European Commission 6/18/19

Tuesday afternoon we visited the European Commission.
The European Commission (EC) is an institution of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.

One of our speakers, Sarah Zane, discussed Environmental Implementation.

Grand Place 6/18/19

A group of us visited the Grand Place last night. A variety of shops and sights were everywhere.

Store Fronts during the Week 6/18/19

Take a look at some of the interesting store fronts in Brussels.

Belgium is famous for its lace.

Food Comments During the Week 6/18/19

I am going to add food comments throughout the week.
6/17-I had a yummy salad for lunch. Look at my wooden fork.

Hamburger

Australian raspberry ice cream

Belgian mussels an fries

Belgian Chocolate 6/18/19

Chocolate....

Belgium is known for its chocolate. It is delicious. Godiva chocolate is from here.

Jean Monnet 30th Anniversary 6/18/19

I am attending the 30th anniversary of the Jean Monet activities in the morning in the Bibliotheque Solvay.  Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture,Youth and Sport was the first speaker.