American interests in Europe: A summer of EU governance and economy

Photo by Eleni Yannelis (click to enlarge)Junior Eleni Yannelis and teachers Adele Suslick and John Garvey were members of a study group that visited the European Parliament this summer. Group members watched a new president of Parliament be elected and had a roundtable with members of the EP.

By Eleni Yannelis
Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - 9:22pm

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This summer, junior Eleni Yannelis, English teacher Adele Suslick, and French teacher John Garvey participated in the European Union's summer study trip on governance and economy in France and Belgium. Garvey participated in the workshop as a language teacher, while Yannelis attended because she won an essay competition; as her adviser, Suslick also won the right to participate. The tour was organized by the U of I's European Union Center and was funded by the European Commission. The tour included K-12 teachers, state legislators, local journalists, and two University of Illinois undergraduates.

From England to France

A window opening onto a view of the Palais de Rohan Museum and the Cathédrale de Nôtre Dame in Strasbourg, France, home of the European Parliament. Photo by Eleni Yannelis (click to enlarge)

In July, I traveled to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and the European Council and Commission in Brussels, Belgium, which are the legislative branches of the European Union. The EU is a growing and evolving political and economic partnership, currently consisting of 27 member states with no official capital and a presidency that rotates among the members every six months.

The trip was funded by the EU's Getting to Know Europe Grant in order to promote greater knowledge about the EU in the United States. My companions on the trip included English teacher Adele Suslick and French teacher John Garvey.

In the 1950s, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands created through the Schuman Declaration the five main institutions that govern the EU: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Court of Justice, and the European Court of Auditors.

My trip had a rather scary start. I arrived a day before the rest of the group because my mother and I were already in Europe. As we waited at London City Airport, we were told there would be a delay because our plane "had a fuel problem." Naturally, this caused an uproar among the passengers, particularly since this was an Air France flight and a plane was lost in Brazil earlier in the week for unknown reasons.

We were eventually told to board the airplane, but that we would have to stop in Antwerp to change planes because our plane did not have proper navigational equipment. Hmm … a plane with insufficient fuel and no maps, on an airline with a flight "unaccounted for."

Fortunately, my mother and I got to Strasbourg without problems. We arrived quite late and immediately went to dinner in the old downtown. The city has changed hands between France and Germany for centuries, which only adds to its charm. Signs are in both French and German, and most people are fully bilingual. The food has influences from both cultures, as does the architecture.

We sat at a little café next to the Cathédrale de Nôtre Dame. My first night in Strasbourg was picture perfect. As we finished our dinner, a sound and light show illuminated the cathedral. It was terrific, unexpected, and purely by chance we had a primo view. This was a great beginning to what would turn out to be an excellent trip.

The next day the rest of the group arrived, and we spent the day seeing the sites. We visited museums and took a boat tour. The tour had a hilarious audio-headset channel with a little girl, a pirate, and a parrot. The multiple channels were a good introduction to multilingual Europe.

The election: A pirate and president

European MEPs cast their votes for a new president of the European Parliament. Photo by Eleni Yannelis (click to enlarge)

On Tuesday morning, business began! We were scheduled to be at the European Parliament at 8:30 a.m. Our intrepid and outstanding organizers told us we would have to leave earlier than scheduled as it was the 14th of July (Bastille Day in France), and dairy farmers were threatening a protest at the EP.

Strikes are common in Europe, but they seem to be the official sport in the summer! Thankfully, there was no problem. Perhaps because it was a holiday and the weather was magnificent, there was only a single farmer for a photo op.

The far more interesting arrival event was meeting a Euro Pirate. Yes, Sweden has a "Pirate Party," aargh! It's the intellectual property and copyright kind of piracy, but entertaining nonetheless.

The pirate member of the European Parliament was a good introduction to the party structure in Europe.

The EP has 736 members from 27 countries. In order to promote cooperation, they sit by political group rather than country. Each group is a coalition of MEPs from European political parties, informal blocs, and independents, with at least 19 MEPs from at least five different EU member states.

Visiting the EP was extremely enjoyable. We got to watch the MEPs, newly elected by their countries, elect a president of Parliament (not to be confused with the six-month, rotating EU presidency). Since the Parliament has 27 countries, members speak in their native language, and we, like the MEPs, wore headphones with channels to listen to their speeches, translated into our preferred language.

There were two candidates, Jerzy Buzek of Poland and Eva-Britt Svensson of Sweden. On this historic morning the chamber elected Buzek president, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall ignited Europe's reunification and a mere five years after Poland joined the EU.

Buzek's election was especially poignant because Poland became a modern parliamentary democracy only in 1989. He embodies Europe's progress, a peaceful path from world wars to political and economic integration and prosperity.

After the election we had a private meeting with several MEPs. The MEPs from Great Britain, Peter Skinner from the liberal Labour Party and Jonathan Evans from the Conservative Party, were particularly insightful and entertaining in their inimitable British backbench banter.

Skinner hosted lunch for us in the members dining room, with several staff from the Parliament and Commission. It was interesting to hear their views about Europe and their countries in an informal discussion.

After lunch, we boarded a bus and headed to Brussels. The ride took over five hours and was a chance to get to know members of our group, which included Sharon Stead Galantino, the managing director for Illinois' Western European international trade and development office.

In Belgium ...

With her mom, Eleni Yannelis stopped in a little candy and biscuit shop. Photo courtesy Eleni Yannelis (click to enlarge)

Bright and early the next day we headed off for Caterpillar, the famous manufacturer of construction equipment. I must confess, I was initially uninterested in this event. I mean, we have one in Illinois. What would be so special about going to Caterpillar in Belgium?

Well, Caterpillar Belgium was fascinating.

I never realized that Caterpillar had specializations for its factories. Nor did I realize how interesting the people would be. Our tour guide was one of the sweetest, most passionate people I have encountered in my life. She walked about with a beaming smile and greeted every one with an ecstatic "Bonjour!" Her enthusiasm and pride were infectious.

After lunch, we headed to NATO. To be perfectly honest, I've never been sure how to feel about NATO. The American information officer described their mission as to "kill bad guys." He wanted to let us know that this would be a change of pace.

I was fascinated by how NATO makes decisions: They require unanimous consensus before action. For example, the Republic of Macedonia was blocked from entering NATO by a single country (Greece), because Greece wants the country to use the name the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" rather than "Macedonia."

I realized how different NATO's political decision-making is from its military chain of command in the field — yes, sir.

On our fifth day, we visited the European Commission. We took the metro, which was not exactly pristine or high speed but had interesting music as we waited for the train.

At the European Commission, we were briefed on U.S. and EU trade relations, political priorities, and agricultural policies. While some of this may seem dry, it mostly was not. The speakers were incredibly lively and poked fun at their cultural counterparts.

On the topic of food especially, it was interesting to hear European officials complain about how Americans play God with food by developing genetically modified organisms, while we won't accept some meats and cheeses from Europe because they are "unclean" (Europeans do not wash their chickens in chemical baths and have raw milk cheeses). We see bacteria, they see unadulterated gastronomic bliss.

In the afternoon we visited the International School of Brussels. It was a lovely place with a great director. As the youngest member of the group, I was deemed the "rat" (as in the one to be experimented upon). Coming from a lab school, I am quite used to this!

On our final night in Brussels, we had a lovely traditional Belgian dinner. Walking back, we stumbled on another light show, in the Grand-Place, which pleasantly reminded me of my first night in Strasbourg.

From Belgium to England with a new perspective

On the train back to London I realized that I had learned a lot about amazing places and institutions, and I had met interesting people. I also learned that Europe cares about our little state because Illinois is important to Europe, and Europe is important to Illinois.

For example, in 2006 56 percent of Illinois' investment came from Europe ($24.2 billion), and this investment supported 169,600 jobs in our state.

The trip also made me realize why the topic of the essay contest that I had won was From Coal to Corn. Industry and agriculture are still important to our relationship, along with the institutions that make trade possible.

All in all, this was a spectacular trip!

On the group's first day in Strasbourg, France, members visited the Palais de Rohan Museum. Photo by Eleni Yannelis (click any photo to enlarge and to create your own slideshow)

A photo of the study group at the European Parliament. The group was comprised of educators (professors and high school teachers), politicians, two university students, a journalist, and Uni High student Eleni Yannelis. English teacher Adele Suslick is pictured in the second row, second from right. French teacher John Garvey is also in the second row, fourth from right. Yannelis is in the front row, second from right.

European MEPs vote to elect a new president of Parliament. The two candidates were Jerzy Buzek of Poland and Eva-Britt Svensson of Sweden. Buzek won.

The group visits the European Commission. English teacher Adele Suslick is pictured in the front row, third from left. French teacher John Garvey is pictured in the back row, second from right. Junior Eleni Yannelis is in the front row, second from right.

Monday, July 13

Arrival in Strasbourg, France
Museum visit, Palais de Rohan, boat tour, and Cathédrale de Nôtre Dame

Tuesday, July 14

Visit European Parliament
Participate in roundtable on the “Contribution of the European Parliament for a Reinforced Transatlantic Co-operation” with the participation of Elmar Brok, MEP and former chair of the committee on foreign affairs; Peter Skinner, MEP and former member of the committee on economic and financial affairs; Jonathan Evans, former MEP chair of the parliamentary delegation for the relations with the USA; Erika Mann, former member of the parliamentary delegation for the relations with the USA and a member of the international trade committee.
Leave for Brussels

Wednesday, July 15