Study Trip to Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg 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: Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

The students began the week with two days discovering the institutions in Brussels. First up was a visit to the European Commission, where CIFE Alumnae Andreana Stankova and Gilles Gantelet discussed their roles at the Commission working in social media and the legal service. Next, they went across the road to the Council of the European Union, where they gained an insight into the institution's role. On the following day at the European External Action Service (EEAS), the students received a presentation on the activities of the EEAS and the EU's efforts to counter foreign information manipulation and interference, before meeting CIFE Alumnae Luca Kadar and Grace Olivia McCarthy, who shared their experiences working at the EEAS. The Brussels leg was rounded off with a briefing at the UN/UNDP office in Brussels on EU-UN cooperation and some examples of UNDP missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The next leg of the trip took the students to Luxembourg, where they got to grips with the work of the European Investment Bank in the morning. They then discovered more about the work of the European Stability Mechanism, its crucial impact during the Eurozone crisis and how its role has developed since then.

Finally, the students spent two intense days in Strasbourg, first at the European Parliament, where highlights included watching MEPs voting on a series of proposals during the plenary session, as well as a meeting with CIFE Alumnus Julius Zunker. They then learnt more about how the European Court of Human Rights works during a presentation about the court. Finally, at the Council of Europe, they learnt about the institution's main fields of work and visited the hemicycle.

As well as the visits, students had the opportunity to network with over 20 CIFE Alumni based in Brussels during a dinner on the Grand Place.

The students of the EUGOV programme also received a lecture on lobbying and advocacy by Doris Dialer, followed by a walk through the European quarter to understand the various ways in which private and societal concerns can influence decision-making in Brussels.