by Sarah Bahn
From June 17th 2013 through June 20th 2013, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the European Center of Excellence’s Brussels Study Program. This program was organized by the UNC EU Center and I was able to participate through a travel grant I applied to and received from the University of Illinois European Union Center. Before our journey into the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, all other participants and I were e-mailed a tentative schedule of all of the European Institutions that we would be visiting such as the: European Commission Headquarters, European Parliament, European External Actions Services, Council of the European Union, and a few other smaller yet certainly important European Institutions.
Before my week in Brussels, Belgium, all that really popped into the mind of a foodie like me when thinking of Brussels were: waffles, frites, and of course Belgian chocolates. In order to try to save myself from the impending jetlag and to familiarize myself a little with the city, I arrived a day earlier in Brussels than other participants. After checking myself and bags into First Euroflat Hotel, I decided to start my adventure by checking out the smaller streets and shops located around the hotel. Being a helpless American foodie tourist, no one could save me from what my first two “European” purchases would be: a Belgian Waffle topped with a mountain of whipped cream and Speculoos, and the first of many more boxes of Belgian chocolates to come. However, once the program really began I would learn that Brussels and Belgium was much more than waffles and internationally known chocolate brands such as Neuhaus and Godiva.
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| My first Belgian Waffle with whipped cream and Speculoos |
Before my week in Brussels, Belgium, all that really popped into the mind of a foodie like me when thinking of Brussels were: waffles, frites, and of course Belgian chocolates. In order to try to save myself from the impending jetlag and to familiarize myself a little with the city, I arrived a day earlier in Brussels than other participants. After checking myself and bags into First Euroflat Hotel, I decided to start my adventure by checking out the smaller streets and shops located around the hotel. Being a helpless American foodie tourist, no one could save me from what my first two “European” purchases would be: a Belgian Waffle topped with a mountain of whipped cream and Speculoos, and the first of many more boxes of Belgian chocolates to come. However, once the program really began I would learn that Brussels and Belgium was much more than waffles and internationally known chocolate brands such as Neuhaus and Godiva.
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| In front of the European Commission with two other participants |
After all the formal introductions and overviews of
the programs were over with after all of the other participants arrived, we
started our journey into the European Union’s headquarters at the European
Commission Headquarter and then after, at the European Parliament. At the
European Parliament (EP) we were privileged to receive a lecture by the Head of
Secretariat on the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs, Silvio Gonzato. We were
also able to attend a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European
Parliament in which David Usuphashvili, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia
spoke on the recent developments in Georgia. It would take hours and possibly
days to be able to comment on every single lecture heard at each designated
institution visited. However, each institution spoke of their roles within the
EU or Europe, as well as its relations with Europe, the U.S, and the rest of
the world.
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| My last night in Brussels, at the Grand Place |
Although each institution has technically different
roles within the EU and Europe, there was an overarching theme within each of
the speakers’ lectures. In order for each of these institutions to be
successful in fulfilling their roles within Europe, there needs to be
cooperation in all issues that effect the governing and livelihoods of each
European country. This is what makes the European Union such a unique
institution, that despite each country’s cultural, religious, and historical
differences, they are able to come up with policies that each country needs to
discuss and agree on. The recent addition of Croatia as the EU’s 28th
member country, not only shows this institutions uniqueness but its relevance
to the European community.
Photo credit: Sarah Bahn
Sarah Bahn is currently a junior majoring in
political science and minoring in French at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. This coming fall, she will be the newly elected vice
president of model European Union, an up-and-coming RSO formed last year. She
will also be preparing for LSATs, and hopes to attend law school after
graduating from U of I with the dream of working in the international or immigration
law field.
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