Austrian Presidency
This summer I am working at the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC) in Ispra. The European Commission is an institution of the European Union (EU), responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. The JRC is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, which carries out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.
Working at the JRC has been really interesting, because I get to learn first-hand about the structure and processes of the EU, as well as better understand the beliefs and motives behind the EU project. One such part of the EU is Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The EU consists of seven institutions, one of which is the Council of the European Union, often referred to as simply the Council. The Presidency of the Council is a six month position that rotates among member states.
As of July 1st, the Presidency of the Council is held by Austria, who is taking over from Hungary. To celebrate, the JRC organized an event, with speeches, a flag ceremony (to replace the Hungarian flag at the entrance of the site with the Austrian one), a live band, and traditional Austrian food and drinks. It was really nice! The speeches were insightful, the band was fun, and the food was good. It was a bit hot, and my neck and shoulders definitely got a bit burnt, but overall I really enjoyed it.
