EUintheUS Alumni Spotlight: Ignacio Baleztena
“An Important Milestone in my Professional Career”
What led you to apply for an internship here at the EU Delegation in Washington, D.C.?
My junior year of college I spent a semester at Northern Illinois University in Chicago. I had always been curious about the EU and the U.S. and had a friend who moved to DC and told me about the Delegation. I was very lucky because at the time, the then head of the Press and Public Diplomacy Section was launching a new program to promote the EU among the Hispanic community of the United States. It was 2006, so it was something very innovative and visionary, as the Hispanic population wasn’t nearly as large as it is now in the United States. They happened to be looking for someone Spanish-speaking and I’m from Spain, so it was a perfect match!
What was the most surprising thing you learned about the EU during your internship?
Launching the Hispanic outreach program to promote the EU got me thinking about how to effectively communicate the EU to people who may not even be aware of what it is. I learned about how the EU can impact your life whether you’re an American, European, or from somewhere else. Learning how to best communicate about the EU has been something very constant in my career.
How did your internship influence your career path?
My internship completely influenced my career path and was an important milestone in my professional career.
After completing my internship in Washington, it was a natural progression to go to Brussels and begin working at the European Parliament. Later, I took a position as head of the EU office of the regional Government of Navarra in Brussels and then completed a master’s degree in New York. The lessons I learned on communicating about the EU have helped me recently as I was teaching a course on European institutions last semester at the University of Navarra, in my hometown. This past May, I joined the EU Commission. Not only has my internship influenced my professional life, some of my closest friends are my fellow EU Delegation interns. We have kept in touch all these years and I actually have plans to meet one of them today.
Speaking of your work at the Commission, I heard that you recently completed a project working with another EU Delegation alum?
I was working with a colleague from DG GROW on the European Innovation Scoreboard and one day I mentioned that I was going to meet some friends from Washington DC. Very quickly we found out that we had both been interns at the Delegation! With the EU Delegation alumni network, you never know who you’re going to find.
Tell us a little bit more about what you do at the Commission.
I work for DG Research & Innovation. We analyze research and development activities in the EU Member States and provide recommendations on how they can improve their innovation performance. In our unit each of the policy officers monitor one or two countries and I’m at the country desk for Luxembourg and Estonia. I’m also responsible for the communication activities of my unit, which is why I was involved in the European Innovation Scoreboard project with Daniel Bloemers, my colleague from DG GROW and fellow alumnus of the Delegation.
What is the most important thing that you wish more Americans would understand about the EU?
Founded after WWII, the EU is based on peace and the principle of solidarity. This means that countries with more help countries with less. Another important characteristic of the EU is our social market economy, meaning that the state is there to support you when you need it — when you go on maternity leave, when you’re ill or unemployed. Some people criticize it and in the U.S. the system is completely different, that social protection is lacking. I think that there is a lot that Americans can learn from our solidarity and social market economy in the EU.
What advice would you give to interns today?
Make the most out of your experience. You have the chance to go to Congress, to the Hill, and learn about the differences between the EU and the U.S. For me, it was my first time working with people from different countries. Working in a multicultural environment is a great opportunity and was very useful to me when I started working at the European Parliament. Get to know your colleagues and fellow interns. Make the most out of your experience both in a professional and personal way. I feel very proud to be an EU Delegation alumnus. It was a wonderful experience and one that has stayed with me over the years. Every time I see my friends from that time it brings back great memories.
Ignacio was an intern in the Press & Public Diplomacy Section at the EU Delegation January— July 2006.
Are you a former EU Delegation intern? We’d love to hear what you’re up to and feature you in our next EUintheUS Alumni Spotlight. Just send an email to Delegation-USA-Alumni@eeas.europa.eu.
