March was yet another busy month. I had many tasks at work
and we made good progress with the two most important files that I’ve been
working on: the IMI system and standardisation. We also had the first initial
contact with the European Parliament (EP for short), which is a crucial part of
finalizing negotiations in the EU’s ordinary legislative procedure. Speaking of
the EP, I also had the opportunity to attend a plenary session in Brussels,
which is where the Parliament’s final decisions are being taken.
A major event this month was arranging an attaché trip to
Copenhagen for representatives from all of the member states in our working
group for industry and internal market issues. I followed my two attachés Signe
and Katie to Copenhagen and kept track of the programme, transportation, etc.
We visited a power plant, an electronics store and the ministry and I believe
it was a great success. It was also a fun way to present my city and get to
know people in a more informal setting. On top of that, it gave me a weekend
back home to catch up with friends and family.
In the middle of March, I took a little trip to Paris to visit my good friend from university Malene. She was for a semester at the ”Sciences Po” programme, and it was great to see her, meet some of her international friends and see Paris from her point of view.
I also took a few trips inside Belgium. Along with some of
the other stagiaires I went to the Hergé museum in Louvain-la-Neuve, which is
dedicated to the cartoon Tintin. Very
cool! On the last day of March, Charlotte and I went to the city of Leuven
(incidentally the Flemish version of Louvain), which is a charming old city
with a beautiful neighborhood, begijnhoff,
which used to be a place of refuge within the city. Other than that, and in
between a busy schedule at work, there was also time for dinners, trips to the
cinema and our hosting a great party for the Danish stagiaires in Brussels.
