Bonne année - 13 January 2012
I've never really been one for New Year's resolutions. After all the festivities (and inevitable excess!) of December, the long, dark days of January always seem such a difficult time to try to be virtuous. And this year was no exception with my healthy living regime falling at the first weekend of 2012. One regime I have managed to stick to, however, thanks entirely to the European Fast Stream (EFS), is my constant battle to improve my French. With ...Read More
The beginning of the end..? - 30 August 2011
Well it's nearly the end of month eleven in the EFS household and the 'housemates' are already thinking about next steps. Most of the other EFSers are looking forward to their five month stint in Brussels, doing press or policy work in fields ranging from humanitarian aid to energy. For those of us staying, as for other Fast Streamers in Defra, it's dating season (a friend recently arranged a successful 'speed dating' session for those leaving jobs to ...Read More
Still waiting... - 13 June 2011
In preparing this latest entry I’ve been thinking about the big things that have happened since I last wrote – I guess the biggie being submitting my application for the EU recruitment competition and sitting (and surviving) the pre-selection tests. Rather like the Fast Stream, the first round is a series of computer-based tests, though there are more of them – verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, and situational judgement. Overall they weren’t ...Read More
Time for reflection - 09 April 2011
I can't believe that April’s here already, which means I'm six months in to my first placement on the European Fast Stream (EFS). It's been a busy few months in the world of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) reform - with a lot of work at both the domestic and European level to establish negotiating positions - both for the UK Government and the other major EU players. With all the participants lined up, we're now waiting for the Commission to fire the ...Read More
Discovering what really makes Whitehall tick - 07 December 2010
Well so far the European Fast Stream is really living up to its name. I joined the team in Defra (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) working on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and hit the ground running. In my first week I was drafting press lines on draft proposals from the European Commission to reform the CAP. I was also providing briefing for our Secretary of State, Caroline Spelman, for meetings with the ...Read More