Had the chance to give a ”State of the Union” address to some 600-700 stagiers today. It is always such a pleasure, one of the hihglights of the year.
I do not know whether I was in form today, but I thought that the questions were great. I just wish that we would have had more time to discuss. Oh well, perhaps some of the stagiers will send me some questins through the blog? Spread the word!
EU experts at the Flagey Centre.
The week has been full of two things: the Commission’s discharge and my lobbyreport. Both have required a lot of footwork, i.e. lobbying. It has been great to work with Ingeborg Grässle, a colleague of mine who is basically our group spokesman on budgetary control. She is a true pro, and knows what she is doing.
I have also seen a lot of people on my lobbyreport. I feel that we are getting there. The job of a raporteur is to strike a balance, find a compromise. It’s been a lot of fun to do the rounds. I have gotten a lot of new ideas in the process. I will post my amendments on the blog soon.
I am off to Finland tomorrow evening. I will be flying via Helsinki to Vasa, on the coast about 400 kilometres north-west of Helsinki. Looking forward to it.
