nieuws 
| Leaving the European Parliament |
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| 10-06-2007 | |
 This Thursday, 7th of June 2007, was my last day in the European Parliament. After having worked there for about 5 years, I decided to move on and will start working in a different profession and environment. It's a strange feeling; leaving those I have been working with behind. Leaving the dossiers I have been pushing in other hands. But I am confident in the future and my goodbye party week was a great one. Thanks to all those I have been working with.
I started working as a trainee in DG3 Visits and Seminars. My job? Explain citizens of the Union how the Parliament works. That's rather funny, actually. I just graduated from university, still naive and not too confident about my knowledge nor myself. And, suddenly, I had to explain the institutional mechanisms of the EP to visitor groups. But I pulled it off and enjoyed it. A traineeship was not enough, however, so I set up the EPTA with some fellow-stagiaires.The European Parliament Trainees Association. You know, we booked quite some successes. Personalised email addresses instead of Dit e-mail adres is beschermd door spambots, u heeft Javascript nodig om dit onderdeel te kunnen bekijken for example. Or inviting president Pat Cox and offering all trainees a picture with him. That's more than I can say from president Poettering. I am still awaiting a confirmation for a meeting request with the assistants' association. But I take that as a compliment. The fact he stubbornly tries to ignore our association means we are worthwhile ignoring no? After that internship I knew I had to discover more from that intriguing institution. A parliament which always claims to represent citizen's interests but remains an untransparent, way too difficult and procedural place where political debates are reduced to 1 minute speeches. But during those 5 months traineeship I realised there is more to it. The EP is also the place where Community initiatives are checked, altered and if necessary criticised. I will never forget the rejection Mr Buttiglioni as Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs or the software patents vote. At those times, all progressive forces in the Parliament joined their forces and defended the European citizen. That energy and role enables and strengthens the feeling you are working together for the greater good. And it translates itself in great professional relationships, which, quite often, turn into friendship. Thanks to the Dutch socialist delegation, I have been able to discover this further by becoming delegation assistant and, at a later stage, policy assistant to Edith Mastenbroek. She is a remarkable woman. An example of a political intelligent person, with a great drive to make things better. Someone who accepted and stimulated my personal political drive. She pushed me in running for the local elections and taking up the assistants-issue. Regarding the assistants statute there is still a long way to go. Even though the Belgian tax administration is starting to look into the employment contracts of assistants, the services and people in charge do not take up their responsibility. It seems as if they do not care whether 800 assistants run the risk of having to pay amounts up to 10000 euro. I have left that dossier in the good hands of Ruth Firmenich, Anna, Anne Karien, Nicolae, Giovanni, Lisa and James. They still have a hard battle to win but I am convinced they will be able to take it to the next level. And me, I am ready for my newest challenge; working as Manager Public Policy for Liberty Global. To those ex-colleagues who read this article I say: thank you for those great 5 years and hope to continue seeing you. |