On 13 and 14 May,  25 young policy officials from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in the Netherlands commonly known as ‘’het klasje”) made a visit to several EU institutions in Brussels. 

In the Berlaymont Building, the group met with Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Head of Cabinet of Eurocommissioner Neelie Kroes. In an interactive session, they had a lively discussion on a variety of issues including the relation between the European Commission and the Council, the creation of a European telecom market, women’s quota on company boards, and effective EU-presidencies.

At the European Parliament, the group met with MEP’s Bas Eickhout and Jan Mulder who gave an insight in the political landscape of the EU, the work of committees, and the relations with their political parties back home. Special attention was given to the co-legislation role of Parliament and the multi-annual financial framework.

The Brussels tour was concluded with visits to the two Permanent Representations of the Netherlands to the EU and NATO. At the PV-NATO, Ambassador Frank Majoor gave a solid overview of the developments within NATO, followed by a discussion on NATO (non)intervention in the Syria crisis and enlargement. During their final visit, to the PV-EU, the participants had speeddate sessions with several  attachés on topics as diverse as gender equality, Schengen membership for Bulgaria and Romenia, EU climate and energy policy, financial transaction tax and EU membership of Serbia.

After two intensive days, the group returned to the Clingendael Institute with enriching experiences and new perspectives of ‘Brussels’;  all eager to use and apply the newly acquired insights in the remaining 1,5 month of their ‘klasje 2013’.

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