A consortium of Canadian universities through the Network for European Studies (Canada) offers on a yearly base the EU Study Tour and Internship Program. At UBC the Institute for European Studies at the Department of Political Science organizes those programs. This year we are sending four students to the Study Tour that begins May 6th in Brussels and ends May 25th. Three students successfully applied for internship positions. Our congratulations go to Kate, Jeff, and Chris!

Email Dr. K. Hübner for further information.

KATHLEEN JAMES

The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) works for the continual expression of citizenship rights within the European Union. The NGO helps citizens and other NGOs to lobby and communicate with the EU. Since its beginnings in 1991, the ECAS has been able to bring together various sectors of the policy-making arena to work towards the ECAS main goals of guiding civil society, advocating for free movement rights, and more accountable governments. Furthermore, the ECAS is very involved in supporting European commission’s initiative of  “2013 as the European year of the citizens” by demanding a charter that allows citizens to assert and be informed of their rights.

My expectations for the internship with the ECAS are the following: to gain first hand knowledge of how the NGO helps citizens become closer to the EU, become informed of citizenship rights that are lesser known, learn more about the limits to freedom of movement particularly for migrants, and gain valuable experience in a professional environment.

JEFF MITCHELL

My name is Jeff Mitchell and I am currently completing my third year of studies in Economics and International Relations. For me the European Union Study Tour is all about gaining practical knowledge of European institutions. In particular seeing how processes described in textbooks actually operate in the real world. I am very eager to hear the first-hand experiences of professionals and to be able to compare ideas with those who are really in the know. The trip to the European Central Bank in this time of economic challenge for the EU is one I am really looking forward to. It will also be interesting to contrast the workings of the European Parliament with previous trips to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. At the end of the study tour I will be taking up an internship at the Canadian Mission to the European Union in Brussels. With the approaching completion of CETA I am thrilled to be part of the Mission team at this exciting step in EU-Canada relations. I am also very excited to be given the opportunity to live the life of a diplomat as an undergraduate!

CHRISTOPHER BRODKIN

I am excited for the great opportunity that awaits me this summer. I have recently been accepted to participate in an internship for the European Ideas Network (EIN). The EIN is a think tank in Brussels that looks to promote new ideas on issues that face the European Union (EU) such as economic and social challenges. It brings together a wide variety of people from many backgrounds that voice their opinions on the different issues. By actively pursuing these goals and reaching out to different communities, the EIN looks to improve the quality of policy within the central-right politics of Europe.

I’m excited to take my political studies to the next level and immerse myself in a group that sits at the heart of the EU. I suspect that there will be lots of opportunities for me to attend conferences and submerge myself in the political culture. I’m also hoping that I will be working on many of their ongoing projects and get the chance to add my Canadian political perspective to their work. Overall I’m interested in learning a great deal more about the EIN and other institutions in Europe. I hope that I will come back to Canada with an enriched view of the European Union and the different political culture that exists in Europe.