This summer, I had the opportunity of interning with the European Union Delegation to Canada (EUDEL) for three months. The internship took place in Ottawa (where all state embassies are located), and I had the privilege of working in the political and public affairs section of the delegation. I knew from the start that this internship was going to perfectly compliment my field of study and potential future career plans. I am a third year Arts student entering fourth year in September. I am in honors political science and am also completing a major in international development. I have focused my political science degree on the developed world, as I felt this would balance my studies in international development well. Completing an internship with a supranational organization consisting of developed nations in the developed nation I live in was an incredible opportunity to see first-hand some of the theories and case studies I was learning in class.
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The EUDEL works as the main liaison between Canada and the European Union. It not only consists of sharing information to the EU regarding what is going on in Canada (politically, socially, economically, etc…) but also a liaison between Canada and member states of the European Union. The EUDEL also has a goal of promoting the European culture in Canada, organizing events that share the values and ideologies of the EU and its MS with Canadians. As an intern at the EUDEL, my responsibilities included the preparation of reports on Canadian political developments including federal/provincial election updates, case studies, and other sectors that were of interest to the European Union, attending monthly coordination meetings between the Delegation and cultural representatives of EU member state embassies, accompanying Delegation staff to various conferences and meetings and participating in the Delegation’s public diplomacy activities, drafting daily press reviews for the delegation and fellow member state embassies, updating information records on the different provinces of Canada for future projects and meetings and assisting the Deputy Head of Delegation in project ideas for the upcoming anniversary of the Schumann Declaration. While some of these tasks seem broad or vague, the over-arching objective of the internship was to represent and understand the role of the EUDEL in Canada as well as in the EU (Europe).
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Thanks to all the incredible work and opportunities given to me as an intern, there were definitely a few highlights I can pin point. To start, I was able to attend conversations and talks regarding human rights, environmental issues and educational debates as a representative of the EUDEL. People at these events would look to me as the EUDEL representative, this showed that the EUDEL had trust in sending me to these events and allowing me to interact with important officials on matters of international debate. In June, I was also allowed to take notes at a meeting between our ambassador, the ambassadors of every EU Member State, as Elizabeth May (leader of the Green Party of Canada). This was incredible as I had been writing about her party’s ideas and polling numbers for a month and was able to actually listen to her and meet her in person at an official state meeting.
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As for the logistical aspects of the internship, I can attest to the fact that I am receiving credit for the internship, and will be writing a research paper on the role of member states to the EU, and how this compares to the role of provinces in Canada to the federal government. This will be interesting as throughout my internship, many people have differing views on the description of the relationship and how it affects member states every day. As the EUDEL is divided into two sections (political and economic), it was great to see both sides of the coin before commencing the research to the paper. The paper will be supervised by professor Filippo Sabetti.
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Finally, I would not have been able to complete this internship without the generous help of the Arts internship award, presided by Dean Antonia Maioni. Living in Ottawa for three months is an expensive ordeal, especially when rent, living costs, food, etc… are taken into account. The award offered to me was of paramount importance for me to fully focus on the internship and tasks at hand, and not on any financial constraints the internship could have caused. I thank the Arts Internship Award committee from the bottom of my heart for their generous contribution.
