EU brain in the interest rate vortex

Like EU politics, it took me time to learn how to operate in the midst of a pandemic.

When my EU lobbying internship at Blic started in September 2020, I was pretty sure that I would soon be rushing through the corridors of Parliament, admiring the hustle and bustle of Brussels and maybe even tasting Belgian beers. I spent the beginning of my internship in Helsinki and when I finally made it to Brussels, all the restaurants and bars closed the day after my arrival, leaving me with the option of experiencing a taste of Brussels in a day. I managed to visit the office for a month before the compulsory teleworking started, and even then my admiration for the bustle of Parliament was limited to the Berlaymont façade visible from the office window.

The European Union's role in health emergencies is to coordinate the action taken by Member States and to complement national policies. However, at the beginning of the pandemic, efforts to combat the disease were primarily made at national level. Political decision-making at EU level was also put on pause in the initial confusion before the remote sessions could get underway. Since then, the European Commission has been busy launching new initiatives and targets, and responding to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic with financial instruments to help.

Brussels is now like everywhere else: remote. In addition to client meetings, parliamentary committee meetings, Commission hearings, and a wide range of seminars are held via video link. Meetings with representatives of different stakeholders are therefore somewhat more flexible, as there is no time to move from one country to another. However, more informal socialising and networking inevitably takes place remotely.

However, the challenging situation for all has also brought new opportunities. I thoroughly enjoyed my short stay in Brussels, while getting a taste of what it would be like to work and live there. In addition, living in Brussels brought me closer to EU involvement, even if meetings were kept to a minimum. The EU has also sought to use the interest rate situation to achieve its policy goals, for example by tying economic recovery to climate action. This has created a lot of new and interesting work not only for the Commission but also for me and the rest of the Blic team.

Milla Toivanen

The author is a student of international politics who completed her brainee internship in Blic's EU team in autumn-winter 2020-21.