Job Alert – Brussels: A Place of Spies and Waltzes

All those who are doubting the importance of Europe received a reassuring message these past weeks: allegedly, and following the recent spying scandal around the Chinese firm Huawei, more than 250 Chinese and 200 Russian spies find sufficient interest in the quarrels around Brexit and other issues to linger around in the streets of the EU capital, according to the European External Action Service.

Given some of the current debates, this keen interest is hard to believe: EU President Donald Tusk just found clear words for Brexiteers without a plan – he sees them in a special place in hell. UK Prime Minister Theresa May is not allowed to speak her mind but probably agrees: the back-and-forth continues, leaving the European Commission with an „inconclusive“ visit of UK Members of Parliament, a negotiation deadline too close to the leaving date to promise any relief, and the UK international trade secretary admitting that the UK will not manage to revise the 40+ trade treaties with the EU and third countries in time for Brexit – you better buy your Mulberry handbag before 29 March then.

A reason for applause from a Chinese perspective is the Commission’s decision to block the merger of Alstom and Siemens, thereby preventing the emergence of a European rail giant – as Competition commissioner Vestager put it, prohibition is a very rare decision in this business.

Talking about decisions: the European Parliament and the Council have finally found an agreement over the copyright directive – and as usual after such a long time of negotiations, nobody is really happy with it. Also not happy are the opponents of the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 to be leading from Russia to Germany – France apparently played a formidable play of horsetrading between the compromise with Germany over the copyright directive and France’s position towards a Commission proposal on governance of gas pipelines (which could have killed Nord Stream 2).

Still no decision is out on Venezuela: the EU is blocked by Italy, whose 5 Star Movement does not want EU recognition of Juan Guaidó as interim president. So 12 EU Member States have now done so, and the EU proves once more that its construct is too complex for foreign policy. 

Despite all these dire news, at least the Austrians in Brussels still found time to waltz: on 9 February, the annual Vienna Ball took place in the Concert Noble, as usual in perfectly traditional Austrian manner with debutants, orchestra, floor-length dresses and tuxedos. Which brings us to this editorial’s end: if you feel you can also waltz the European parket, find some jobs attached and as usual more on politjobs.eu!

Irina Michalowitz

Featured Job

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit sucht Berater (m/w/d) für das BMZ im Globalvorhaben “Ausbildung und Beschäftigung”
Eschborn | Bewerbungsfrist: 05.03.2019 | Arbeitsbeginn: ab sofort | Vollzeit

Als Bundesunternehmen unterstützt die GIZ die Bundesregierung dabei, ihre Ziele in der internationalen Zusammenarbeit für nachhaltige Entwicklung zu erreichen. Die Sonderinitiative “Ausbildung- und Beschäftigung” des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) hat das Ziel, in ausgewählten Partnerländern Afrikas (zunächst Äthiopien, Marokko, Tunesien, Elfenbeinküste, Ghana und Senegal) Investitionen europäischer sowie lokaler Unternehmen und Investoren zu fördern und die Bedingungen für nachhaltiges Wirtschaftswachstum zu verbessern. ➡️ zur vollständigen Ausschreibung

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15. February 2019