Study Trip to Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels for the EUGOV and Global Studies Programmes

Our students of the Master in Advanced European and International Studies - Applied European Policy and Governance Studies (EUGOV) and the Master in Advanced European and International Studies - European Integration and Global Studies (Global) spent a week together visiting various institutions in Europe's three capitals: Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels.

The students began the week with two days discovering the institutions in Strasbourg. First up was a visit to the Council of Europe, where they learnt about the institution's main fields of work and the exclusion of Russia in 2022. They then moved on to the European Youth Centre to meet Tobias Flessenkemper, who spoke about democracy, human rights and rule of law in Europe. In the afternoon, they visited the European Parliament, where highlights included watching EP President Roberta Metsola's opening speech to the plenary session on Belarus and the commemoration of the 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid, as well as a meeting with CIFE Alumna Emma Demoulin, who works as a parliamentary assistant. The next morning, they met another CIFE Alumna Bjorka Duka, who presented the European Court of Human Rights.

The next leg of the trip took the students to Luxembourg, where they learnt about the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union and how multilingualism plays a major part in life at the court. They also got to grips with the work of the European Investment Bank in the afternoon.

Finally, the students spent two intense days in Brussels, first at the European External Action Service (EEAS), where they received a presentation on the strategic communication of the EU and European defence. Next, they went across the road to the European Commission, where CIFE Alumnae Andreana Stankova and Gilles Gantelet discussed their roles at the Commission in the communications department and legal service. The following day at NATO SHAPE in Mons, they learnt more about the transatlantic alliance and Euro-transatlantic security efforts. They completed their stay at the Council of the European Union, gaining an insight into the institution's role.

As well as the visits, students had the opportunity to network with many CIFE alumni based in Brussels during a dinner on the Grand Place.

The students of the EUGOV programme also had a few extra days at the end of the trip to meet MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield and Catherine Vieilledent to discuss the rule of law in the EU, and went on a tour of the EU quarter after a lecture on lobbying and advocacy by Doris Dialer.