I LOVE MY JOB

At this point, I am now very well-acquainted with Belgian life. I feel totally at ease traveling through it, and I think my job is pretty amazing.

Something I love to do is read, and research things extensively for hours upon end. And guess what? That is exactly what my job is. I have the most up-to-date information on European Union reactions and actions to global issues. I am provided with information that is purely informative, which is refreshing compared to having to decipher the truth out of some U.S. papers. I get to converse with coworkers that are as different from me as night and day. However, we are still able to agree on almost everything when it comes to political policies, and we are not even of the same political orientation. Here in Europe they have enough common sense to work together and advance as a collective community. If only that was the case back at home! We have had conversations ranging from Uranium-238, to Jane Austen, to policies on immigration, to how much the world will ultimately integrate. I think I am in intellectual heaven.

Right now I am focusing on the EU's macroeconomic policies towards its member states, non-member states such as South Korea and the U.S., and its own development. It is very interesting to study the power struggles that occur between the member state representatives, as some such as France and Germany occasionally take stronger intergovernmental approaches and disregard the supranational dealings of the EU, much to the MEP's discontent (an MEP is a member of the European Parliament).

Now I am going to explain (to the best of my knowledge, derived from questioning of coworkers and reading), how the European Union is arranged. First, it is important to note that the European Union was not based off a particular political model. It is unique. Secondly, it was not suddenly created to stand as it does - it was an incremental political system that grew and changed as necessary.

Here is the breakdown, alluding to U.S. institutions for better explanation:

European Union (the whole U.S. government)

3 Policymaking branches:

European Parliament: has a President (like the Speaker of the House). Acts most similarly to the House, directly elected by people, based on population). Members are called MEPs, most similar to Congressmen.

Council of Ministers: has a President (like our Vice President). Acts most similiarly to the Senate, 1 representative per member state, chosen by being a government minister, 27 seats total). Members are called....Council members? Ministers? I am not sure still.

European Commission: has a President (like our President). Acts most similarly to our executive branch, 27 representatives, has less executive power compared to the U.S., accountable to the EP).

There is a strong balance of power between these three groups - no one has the true final say, it is a cooperative effort to get bills passed - which happens most of the time. MEPs, while elected by their nations, sit as representatives in their supranational political parties.

Then there is this group, which is equally as important as the groups above but acts as an advisory group, not an implementing, leading group:

European Council: They are the heads of state of all the member states, their own president, and the President of the Commission. It would be like all 50 U.S. governors convening together to see if they like the direction the U.S. is going in and advising policy agenda and strategies.

Finally, there are the non-governmental groups:

Court of Justice: It encompasses the whole judiciary branch. There are three sub-courts: the European Court of Justice, the General Court, and the Civil Service Tribunal. The latter two are subordinate members due to the Lisbon Treaty.

Court of Auditors: It is not a judicial institution, as the name implies. Rather, it ensures that taxpayer funds from the budget of the EU have been correctly spent. They provide an audit report each financial year to the Council and Parliament. This is how the Parliament judges the Commission's handling of the budget. It gives proposals on financial legislation and anti-fraud actions.

European Central Bank (Federal Reserve): It is the central bank for the eurozone (states which have adopted the euro). They control monetary policy and aim to maintain price stability. It is at the center of the European System of Central Banks, which encompasses all EU national banks as well.

Well, there is a very simple explanation of the EU. It has been most compared to Germany in terms of similar political systems. I will explain more about the EU in later postings. And now, I best get back to my research assignment!