Days Three, Four and Five in Brussels and Luxembourg
Day Three- These entries will be quick--mostly summaries and reflections--I say this because that's pretty much the reaction I still have after thinking about them for a few days afterwards. On Day Three we met at the European Commission Office. Getting to the building gave us more of a glimpse of the city of Brussels- starting with an underground view of it. Yes, we rode the subway to the EC Building. With Ali efficiently checking all of us in one-by-one onto the platform, we boarded a sleek, efficient subway car (don't think the E train in NYC) for a 10 minute ride to the EC. The morning sessions gave us an opportunity to meet with some pretty diverse people-- among them an economist and former Fulbright grantee who talked about the financial structures of the EU. He was followed by an ambassador from Greece who gave us some insights into the European External Action Services, in other words those services you might not typically think take up the EU agenda because they're non-economic, but inevitably do, like the environment and education. I was glad to hear that education was one of these but something else really surprised me--it seems one of the major topics for External Action review and difrection is fisheries...yes fisheries. In a continent surrounded by as much water as Europe is, it turns out that regulating and safrguarding fishing rights and establishing equitable policies is a priority. That was certainly an interesting find.
After lunch at the EC, we travelled by bus to Bruges. My own memories of Bruges were of about four years ago when I was last there. I think Bruges is a weather-dependent city since it is, basically, an open air museum of architecture through which you need to walk. The buildings, so perfectly preserved and maintained, require your complete, unobstructed (especially by water) visual attention. But, of course, it was raining--as it was the last time I was there. Because of this, we went straight to the College of Europe in Bruges and heard a very informative presentation by Marco Rimanelli, one of the Fulbright-Schuman grantees on the trip.
Day Four- We knew the day was going to be a challenge-- any day that has you up at 4:00am and board a bus toward Luxembourg at around 5:00am is going to be unpredictable. But as Erica from the Belgium Fulbright said, nobody complained. And so we started toward Luxembourg and arrived about three hours later. When you pull into Luxembourg, you know, visually, that this is a unique place--modern, new, and all business. Our main order of business there was to attend a court case at the European Court of Justice. I think the most imposing part of the ECOJ (aside from the jurisprudence that occurs there) is the architecture that forms the backdrop for all the events. We attended a briefing before the court case that we obeerved which prepared us for the case itself. It was an interesting case brought by Germany having to do with procedures on labeling organic products. For me, the most interesting part was looking at the translators in the many translation booths that lined the room. I kept wondering what was going on in their brain hemispheres as they listened to one language and, at lightning speed, translated it into another. Sounds like it would definitely make a good study.
We were also lucky to have an in -depth, follow-up discussion with one of the justices who was a Fulbright alumnus. The court conducts serious business and has more influence than I ever imagined on keeping the world order 'ordered.' Its business doesn't seem to get too much world stage time and spotlight, but what the ECOJ does matters.
One more (maybe) little known fact about the ECOJ-- it has a great art collection. As you roam the halls and rooms, and neogitiate the staircases (see some pictures in the Gallery), you brush up against some pretty amazing art work--including pieces by Miro and Rodin. Nice that they mix the political and the legal with a dose of the aesthetic. It keeps the right balance.
