The first place we visited in Brussels was the European Commission, which is kind of like the Executive Branch of the EU. Its headquarters is in the Berlaymont Building. The Comission has been described as a civil service, but most presidents and members come from political backgrounds. There are three presidents: Parliament (currently Poland), Council of Ministers (currently Belgium) and Commission (currently Portugul). Like the other branches of the EU, the Commission has 27 members, one for each state, and 1/3 of these members are women. The commission employs 25,000 workers. Currently, the Commission is working on EU cohesion policies, where richer western states help finance projects for struggling eastern states. For example, the EU will pay to build a bridge in Romania if the country and pay to maintain it with matching funds. We also discussed visa-free travel within the EU and how it is causing problems with a large influx of North Africans migrating into Europe.
Our next stop after lunch was the US Mission to the European Union, which is home to the embassies of NATO, Belgium, and the European Union. The security was insanely tight. We were only allowed into the building one-at-a-time, and were escorted upstairs after handing over our passports and bags. We could only go to the bathroom with an escort, and even then only three people at at time were allowed to go. We had a diplomat speak to us about the work that the American embassy does. The mission building has 15 diplomats representing U.S. agencies. Our speaker was an expert on the NATO/EU divide over accepting Turkey and Cypress. He explained that the goal of the mission is to advance your country's interests in the nicest way possible, by finding common ground. An example would be reducing the regulatory barriers to trade. Working in the state department means you will have to support policies you many not agree with, and you must be able to reconcile that with yourself. The way he spoke about this issue reminded me of the demeanor and job description of an attorney. He also spoken about the effort of the EU to stabilize countries on their Eastern border.
We rested for a bit after these two visits before heading back into downtown Brussels to have dinner and explore the city's bars and shops.
Peace, Love, and Brussels ~ Naomi
Pictures of the Day
Building for the European Commission
Pointing to Belgium
The park and fountain across the street from the Mission
Belgian Parliament (not used much these days!)
The US/EU mission is the first time I've seen an American flag since arriving in Europe
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