One solution would be that the European Union pays more and more attention to private, public and academic actors in its 300 regions: they are the ones who can blow wind in the sails of the European boat. They are to be considered more than only stakeholders or administrative authorities that are there just to apply regulations dictated from the top. All those local and regional key players are the driving force behind Europe. Every single city or region has its own potential and assets; every region has its own economic champion, be it the SMEs or actors in the fields of research and innovation, in cutting-edge industries, in tourism or gastronomy.

From a Europe of the regions in the years 1985-2000 to a Europe with the regions (2010), it is of the utmost importance to now go further and progress towards a Europe of local and regional growth actors. This is where the bonds between citizens and Europe will be strengthened anew: concrete projects which do not come from the top but are born from the initiatives of key socioeconomic actors in each of the European regions. The goal must be to promote the local and regional levels so that the national or federal ones can build again the trust citizens have towards Europe.

More or less 240 local and regional authorities are represented in different ways in Brussels either through their own individual representation, through their association with other regions or through their integration within structures of Member State representations. More than 1,000 people are working every day in Brussels to promote their entities and defend their interests on several domains (structural funds, tourism, innovation, etc). Legally, only Member States are contractual parties to the European Union.

Yet, despite this, it is obvious that cities and regions have more and more interests in European issues. Regions and cities are today more than “hidden actors” in the EU debates. I already explained it in 2010 (see AER report on regionalism) how the “regional dimension” has evolved in 25 years, and how regions and cities have established their presence in Brussels, making the Brussels-Capital Region the World capital of local & regional lobbying. Together with all the regions, cities and regional networks present or represented in Brussels, we will come back to this topic in the new Brussels-Express section: Regions & Cities in Brussels.

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Last February 2017, Mark Zuckerberg made it possible for companies in the United States to publish job ads to find “The one”, by using a specific tool. As it has been successful over the past few months, the famous CEO decided to extend that service to 40 countries, such as Belgium.  No date has yet been set, but face Since Facebook was first launched in 2007, the small startup has been exponentionally growing, become a major international company and  offering more and more services each year.

This jobs service will allow companies to insert a specific category on their facebook page, which will include a precise form to fill out. The candidate will fill all the fields, and they will also be offered the possibility to add any information that they finds appropriate. If the recruiter is interested in knowing a bit more about an applicant, both sides can then be in touch on facebook’s own messenger.

How will you see the ad?

You can be informed about the job ad if you ‘like’ the company’s page, and you then will be shown it on your newsfeed. But following millions of companies on Facebook, it is both useless and heavy, in terms of data privacy to try to find the application accepatnce/refusal through an avalanche of news. This is why the California-based company has designed a specific app, ‘Jobs’, which will gather all the ads that can be relevant to you, thanks to a special algorithm that has been implemented by the Facebook engineers.

The basic service is free of charges, but the employer can make the ad more visible and popular in case they pay a small amount of money. On the other side, the candidate doesn’t pay anything to access all the ads and applies as much as possible.

Whether you agree or disagree with the extension to new services, there is no way denying the power of Facebook and the impact it could have on different parts of society. It therefore makes sense for them invest in labour market and use all the information they have on both sides to foster employability. Will Facebook completely absorb that sector? That’s another issue.

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Frank has had political leanings throughout his life, ever since his national service, where he decided to be a pacifist. Upon entering university, he created the first Green student union in Germany – going on to become a founding member of the German green party in 1980 and soon after, became the first parliamentarian for the Greens in the state of Hessen.

He was then elected to the European Parliament in 1984, and within it, rose to co-president of his political group in 1986. He has been living in Brussels ever since.

Having worked within the « Brussels Bubble » for more than 30 years, Frank decided to work independently – coaching people coming to Brussels on how to work the networks of the city. He hosts big networking events such as Soirée Internationale, which gave him the nickname « The king of networking ».

 How is networking in Brussels?

I have been in 82 different parliaments, and Brussels still stands out as a place where many incredible contacts are possible. Why? Because Brussels has the best environment for networking. It is not only one national background – but 28 (and even more). Most politicians arriving here, are known in their country of origin, for for others their faces are unknown. If you approach such a national key person, they are in general positively surprised that someone recognises them. In addition: we have a much higher fluctuation than on a national level. Over half of the MEPs are not re-elected, and some 80% of EU Commissioners are not reappointed.

And what about Lobbying?

Lobbying has, in general, a negative connotation, but for me – if it is done professionally and with transparency – it is an integral part of our democratic society. Look at the EU; it is hard for someone working in Brussels in one of the EU institutions to predict what a legislative EU decision would mean for those living in Northern Finland or Southern Portugal. Brussels needs consultation. EU decisionmakers need the contacts which represent the ideas of those who later will be concerned by EU decisions. Lobbying is, therefore, part of this consultative feedback. »

How has Brussels changed since you first arrived here?

More competences for the EU, more rights through the Treaty revisions for the EP and a doubling of the number of MEPs. Before the Maastricht Treaty, this meant: most lobbyists focussed 80% on the Commission, 15% on the Council and 5% on the EP. Now it is 40% Commission, 40% EP, 10% Council and 10% others.

How does Brussels compare to London for networking and lobbying?

Brussels is certainly more openminded. In general, we do not have “party dictatorships”. MEP are not obliged to follow a party line, in crucial questions, they follow much more their individual conscience that in national parliaments (who are divided by MPs supporting either government or opposition). In addition: with MEPs from more than 200 political parties, it is “normal” that a trade unionist meets as well conservative politicians, that a catholic lobbyist meets left-wingers and an industry lobbyist meets with Greens.

And how is Brussels as a multicultural city?

London, Paris, Berlin, they are primarily megacities with global fascination and with millions of tourists. Only to a second or even third degree, they are the seats of their national state institutions. Compared to them Brussels with only one million inhabitants is small. But: as the capital of the EU, tens of thousands of newcomers have arrived – very diverse, quite well educated, sometimes a little bit lost, but in general value-driven and open to new ideas and new contacts. For most of them, networking is, therefore, an integral part of their life – even if most of these contacts are taking place in the EU quarter and the Brussels communes nearby: Ixelles, Etterbeek and St. Gilles.

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