Brussels is More than Chocolate and Beer - Fulbright.no

By Jeff Lugowe, 2007-08 US Fulbright Student to Norway.

Jeff Lugowe (second from left) studies Polish labor immigration to Norway.

I was tremendously fortunate to be able to take part in “An Introduction to the European Union and NATO”, a week-long program (March 12-19) that sought to acquaint American Fulbright grantees stationed across Europe with two of the Western world’s most iconic post-war institutions. Brussels was our home base, though we went on a number of excursions to sites elsewhere in Belgium and in Luxembourg. I returned to Oslo at week’s end armed not only with a newfound fondness for Belgian beer, but infinitely more familiar with the inner workings of the EU and the overarching purpose of post-Cold War NATO.

Our days were jam-packed, and neither I nor my fellow participants would have wanted it any other way. During visits to the European Commission, the European Parliament, European Council of Ministers in Brussels, the College of Europe in Brugge, and the European Court of Justice and European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg, we got up close and personal with leading architects of contemporary E.U. policy. That we had access to the kinds of movers-and-shakers we did is a credit to Margaret Nicholson, the Executive Director of the Commission for Educational Exchange Between the U.S., Belgium and Luxembourg, who has shouldered the responsibility for organizing the conference for the past ten years. I extended my gratitude to Maggie in person in Brussels, but a digital thank-you is in order too. Thanks, Maggie!

Seminar participants.

Our sessions with “Eurocrats,” as our speakers did not hesitate to identify themselves, were from the very start two-way affairs. Nearly all of us have studied European integration, some of us in considerable depth. Building on the insights we have gained from our various corners of Europe, we had the rare opportunity to share what we have read and experienced across the EU with the men and women who coordinate and shape EU policy directives. As I have spent significant time in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, I was able to draw upon my insights living in this diverse set of member states in the discussions I had with policymakers and co-participants. Norway is, of course, not a member of the EU; even so, Norwegian law and public policy are profoundly affected by what happens in Brussels. My Fulbright grant to Norway supports research into Polish labor migrants to Oslo, and over the course of the conference, I was able to ask EU policymakers directly about intra-European migration since the EU’s 2004 eastward expansion and the transitional rules governing labor market access that host countries have devised. What is more, I had the unique opportunity to compare notes with co-participants in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark whose Fulbright projects align closely with my own. This comparative perspective into questions of immigration, integration policy and resultant social tensions will prove invaluable in my research going forward.

Visits to NATO and SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) headquarters rounded out the busy week. Norway is a founding member of NATO, hosts the Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger and contributes soldiers and specialists to NATO missions both in Europe and further afield. I had the good fortune of having lunch with our host for the day, the U.S. Information Officer for Denmark and Norway, James Snyder, with whom I discussed Norway’s contribution to NATO’s missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Our visit came just a few hours after NATO’s security forces in the newly-independent Kosovo, known as KFOR, were attacked in the largest armed confrontation to date by Serb protesters in Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo. This development drove home the continuing relevance of NATO in the post-Cold War area and was a subject of intense interest during our meetings. As natives of NATO’s single largest member state, we Fulbrighters were able to engage our speakers in a frank discussion of the challenges facing the world’s leading military alliance in the face of new strategic threats and in the wake of the U.S.’s unilateral actions in the post- 9-11 era.

Back in Oslo, my perspective on my host country has been transformed. I will no longer look on my host country as merely et lite land i verden. Norway remains a vital member of NATO on which the alliance continues to rely. As for the EU, though Norwegian voters have rejected two referenda on membership in that organization, the debate on future membership continues to rage. When next I hear my Norwegian friends launch into a debate over what way forward will best serve their country’s interests, I am sure I will have a few more things to say on the matter.

Thank you to the staff and board of the Norway-U.S. Fulbright Commission for making this unforgettable week possible.