PLACEMENT REPORT

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PLACEMENT REPORT

MA International Relations and International Organisations Placement

LYX000M10 Master's Work Placement IR 2020/2021

Name: Lisa Scheffers

Student number: S3962458

Placement supervisor RUG: Ms. S. Mascarell Ordovas

Placement organisation: Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal

Supervisor from Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal: Mr. Jos Pees

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Introduction.

Finding a placement during a global pandemic is interesting to say the least. I wanted to do a placement that was challenging and interesting, within a field that I did not know very much about. When I read the vacancy of a placement at Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal, it appealed to me right away. Informing and advising Dutch local and regional governments about developments in the field of EU legislation sounded very interesting to me. I have always been interested in the European Union and its working dynamics, but I have never studied law and did not know how to interpret abstract EU plans and put them into practical and understandable wording. This was the challenge I was looking for, this was something I wanted to learn all about. Also, doing an online placement (because that is what it was) during a pandemic is challenging in itself. And I was ready to take on that challenge.

In September 2020, the placement adventure began. I did not want to do a placement of only seven weeks, as I wanted to really expand my knowledge of the EU and wanted to be able to contribute to the organisation. That is when I decided that I wanted to do a five month long placement. I now understand why students of the International Relations Masters at the University of Groningen have to do a placement. At the university, students learn how to think, be critical and generate new knowledge. In the workplace, these obtained skills can be put to the test and into practice. This prepares students for the working environment and what to expect. I am glad I have done a five month placement. I have gained a great set of skills that I will use probably for the rest of my career path.

In this report, I will delve deep into my tasks and responsibilities at Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal, I will set out my prior expectations and will reflect on the learning process. To help me gather my thoughts when reflecting on my professional and personal development, I have kept a logbook throughout the placement. In this logbook, attached to this report in Appendix I, I set out my weekly tasks. I have enjoyed writing this report, reflecting on my tasks and personal development. I hope you, the reader, will enjoy reading it.

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Chapter 1. Pre-Placement

1.1 About me: a rationale for the chosen placement

My name is Lisa and I am 24 years old at the moment of writing this final report of my placement at Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal (hereafter KED). I am from, and also currently living in, the Netherlands. I have obtained a Bachelor in European Studies at the Hague University of Applied Sciences and so I have always been interested in the inner workings of the European Union (hereafter EU) and its topics. My BA in European Studies has brought me to be very open en interested in many different topics and professions. I have had the chance to study abroad in both the United States of America and Germany. I have also had the opportunity to do a placement at the Dutch Consulate-General in Germany, a placement that has taught me much about the importance of Germany for the Netherlands and cross-border cooperation between the two countries. Another profession I have come to enjoy through my BA in European Studies is working in marketing communications. Two very different types of profession, however, also linked together. Good communication within a political and economic union as the EU is very much needed. After my BA, I decided to work in marketing communications, so during this job I was learning about the communications side of things.

After working in marketing communications for a year, I was missing exploring international topics and so I decided to start the Master in International Relations (hereafter IR) at the University of Groningen. This Master made me re-join contact with international issues and foreign affairs. It unfortunately was not all rainbows and sunshine for me. Since my BA was at a University of Applied Sciences, I had never before learned about IR theories, and sometimes felt like I had much less knowledge about these things than other students had. I also did not really have a clear path ready for what I wanted to do when I finished the Masters. Hence, I struggled for a while.

For my placement, I wanted to combine my competencies and knowledge of Europe and IR and communications. I wanted to find something where I could improve those competencies and skills. Subsequently, I have always been interested in the inner workings of the EU as a supranational organisation and in how European policy transits in the daily tasks of national decision-making. This is where KED comes in.

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5 Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal is the Dutch local and regional authorities’ main institute for queries concerning European law and legislation. Knowledge on the correct application of European law and policy is becoming more and more important, also for Dutch local and regional governments. Especially in terms of being able to obtain the right support and guidance for local and regional development through EU instruments. It is sometimes difficult for employees of municipalities, provinces and district water boards to find the right information on European law and policies, when also having to keep in mind the national law and policies. KED was created in order to sufficiently provide these local and regional governments with the appropriate and relevant information on European policy and how European law and policy affects the daily work of these local and regional government employees.

KED is unique among providers of European information, rightly so because it specialises in issues relevant for Dutch local and regional authorities. It provides information on European legislation, case law and the transposition of this into Dutch legislation. The organisation does this through keeping up-to-date the website, it sends out a weekly newsletter with relevant news, it answers questions of employees of local and regional governments via a helpdesk and it offers project-based support to Dutch ministries when these are in need of EU legislation experts.

1.3 Placement preparation and prior expectations

Application procedure

The application procedure went relatively fast and without problems. I found the placement vacancy on the career services page at the university portal and it instantly caught my attention because of the link to the EU and its transit into the Dutch legislation. I wrote a motivation letter explaining why I was interested the placement and why I thought I was a good fit for the organisation and I updated my Curriculum Vitae. KED was the first organisation I sent my application to and a few days later I was invited for an interview. This was held over Zoom, as there were limited ways of meeting because of the corona pandemic. The interview went relatively good, it felt like we had a nice conversation rather than an actual interview and a week later I was told I had the placement position. I was very happy about this, since it was my first and only one of two applications I had sent out. I feel like I was very lucky to come across the placement vacancy on the RUG portal at exactly the right time. At a later stage into the placement, they told me I was one of two out of about 30 applicants that got the position. This was really nice to hear, as it means that they saw potential in me and really wanted to help me further in the journey of learning about the inner workings of the EU.

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Preparation before the placement

The placement preparations consisted of a lot of reading into the organisation and into the main topics relevant for Dutch local and regional governments. Think about public procurement, state aid, the repercussions of Brexit and sustainability. I knew that I was going to work on the topic of sustainability from the start, so I read a lot about the European Green Deal and the many different policy actions taken since the launch of the Green Deal. This was very interesting to do and made me all the more excited for starting the placement. Furthermore, knowing that I was going to write for the KED website and newsletter, I started reading newspapers and other news items. Not so much for its content, but to see how journalists go about writing news articles etcetera. I tried keeping this in mind when writing my first few pieces, and of course during the rest of my placement as well. I am glad I also tried to prepare for these aspects of the placement, as I feel like I was a little better prepared because of it.

The placement was paid, I made about 600 euro’s a month. In my opinion this was not a badly paid placement, also since I moved back into my parents’ house because of the corona pandemic. I had thus no living expenses and could save up the money I made for later purposes.

What to expect?

The expectations I had before starting the placement were limited, because I knew that this would be an online placement. I had never before done or heard of an online placement, as had probably no one else. I thus had no idea as to what I could expect in that regard. What I did expect was to learn a lot of new things about the European Union and European policy and law. I had never studied law before, but analysing Regulations and Directives and new strategies and communications is one of KED’s daily tasks. I was, and still am, super interested in how the EU works and how law transits into national law, and I hoped (and expected) that I would come to know more about this.

Another thing I expected to learn during my placement is how to write a news article or another piece, going off of the sometimes hard to understand EU legislation. KED is all about communicating EU plans and legislation in a practical and understandable manner, however, I myself sometimes struggle with understanding a Directive. So, one of the things I expected to learn was how to go about this. Subsequently, I expected to learn how to write news articles and to order the articles correctly so that a layman could also understand what was said by for example the European Commission.

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Chapter 2. During Placement

This chapter will be divided into professional development and personal development. Here, my tasks and the professional and personal learning objectives as set out in the placement plan will be analysed and reflected on.

2.1 Professional development

I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about European law and policy and how it transits into national legislation. This section will first list my tasks, activities and responsibilities during the placement. Subsequently, I will elaborate on the development of my professional skills. Lastly, I will explain about the level of independence and supervision I received at KED.

Tasks and activities during the placement

During the first month of the placement, I have taken the time to really get to know the organisation, what it does and who my colleagues are. On my first day, I had to monitor the news for relevant topics to write about right away. There is this news website, called Feedly, that gathers all the news and categorises it by topic. During my placement, I had to go through this website and save possibly relevant news to write about. We would discuss the saved news and decide which topics we were going to discuss in news articles. I remember that I had no idea what kind of news to save at first, as I had not yet clear what the target group was. After a few weeks, I knew what kind of news was relevant and what was not. Moreover, as a placement student, I was responsible for writing the news articles for the weekly newsletter. This could sometimes lead up to writing three articles a week, quite a few if you also have to dig deep into the relevant EU legislation for it. I have started writing news articles for the KED newsletter right away on my first day at the organisation. My first article was about the German presidency of the Council and I remember not knowing how to go about writing this article at all. Before my placement started, I read newspapers to see how journalists go about this and I tried to do the same. I decided to just start and to see where it goes and I think that if I read the first and last article I have written, there will be an immense development. The main topics I wrote about are sustainability and Brexit, but I also sometimes wrote about topics as European funds or European policy in general. It can be quite difficult to dive into a very abstract communication or strategy from the European Commission, and to translate it into something understandable and practical. I feel that I have better developed this skill of understanding

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8 over time, and as the placement continued, I found myself feeling much more comfortable about writing about EU topics. You know what they say: practice makes perfect.

Furthermore, ever since the first week of my placement, I have been working on a EU magazine for provinces. This is a magazine that discusses relevant European legislation and policy on a particular topic. We have published two editions, one on making the agri-food sector more sustainable and one on renewable energy. The magazines also included many interviews and columns with people in the field, to give a better impression of EU projects for instance. I found it really nice to be involved with a project like this, as it really deepens your knowledge on certain topics. It was hard work and it took a lot of reading and writing, but I now know so much more about the agri-food sector and the EU plans for the integration of renewable energy and how to make the EU resilient to climate change. Furthermore, I had the chance to do several interviews, for example with a representative of the province of Zeeland on their renewable energy strategy and with the representative of the province of Groningen on the development of green hydrogen. These interviews were abducted digitally unfortunately, but I am glad I had the chance of speaking with people in the field. I also was the contact person for these people throughout the process of reaching out to them until after the interview was placed in the magazine. It is nice that KED let me have that type of responsibility. All in all, I really like working on these magazines, I have the feeling I am now nearly an expert when it comes to agri-food and renewable energy legislation.

During the second month of my placement, I was interested in seeing what the Brexit dossier was all about and I asked if I could take a look to see if I liked it. Brexit namely not only affects Dutch companies, but also municipalities, provinces and water authorities. I was interested in how KED could provide for local and regional authorities on the topic of Brexit and was added to the Brexit-team. I monitored the news weekly, to see if there were any developments in the Brexit negotiations. I would also write news articles if necessary. Since local and regional governments wanted to know what to expect after 31 December 2020, KED has developed an impact scan for each area in which local and regional authorities may be affected. Questions may for example arise from municipalities about the residency rights of UK citizens after the Brexit. By having the Brexit impact scan, local and regional authorities have the most recent information, with which they could prepare for a Brexit with or without a deal. I monitored the developments in the areas of mainly local and regional economy and

international cooperation. Also, I would help keep this impact scan updated and after 31

December 2020, when the UK permanently left the single market, we had to updated the entire Brexit impact scan to the new rules that were set out in the cooperation and trade agreement between the EU and the UK. Therefore, January was a chaotic month, but is was cool to be

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9 involved in the entire process of it. I learned a lot about cross-border cooperation and about the EU-UK dynamics. In the end I am very glad I got added to the Brexit-team.

Other tasks and responsibilities that I had during my placement were that I had to update pages of the website when there had been changes or adjustments to EU legislation. This was a nice way to stay on top of things, and subsequently learn a little bit about content managing on websites as well. Moreover, I sometimes had to upload the news articles on the website and on a few occasions send out the weekly newsletter. This was a major responsibility for me, as this newsletter would be sent to many contacts. It is nice to know that they trust me enough to be responsible for these kind of things. Moreover, I also had the chance to answer a few helpdesk questions and assist in writing a praktijkvraag, which is an answer to a question from a local or regional government that explains the existing legislation on a certain topic and sets out what it means for local and regional governments. Lastly, during my placement I was able to attend multiple webinars on for example the European climate pact and on the European Week of the Regions, but I also had the chance to broaden my horizon and learn about public procurement through biweekly lectures. These kind of activities involved me in other parts of the organisation, which I really liked.

Development of professional skills

First of all, I have learned a lot about the European Union and its practices by monitoring the news and writing articles about the developments. This was one of my set goals, as I have always been interested in the EU and know a little about its practices, but I wanted to gain insight in its dynamics. I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about how European law and policy works and how it transits into national legislation. The EU provides many opportunities when it comes to the development of new technologies, such as green hydrogen for fuel or the promotion of Nature Based Solutions and green infrastructure. It is super interesting to know more about these issues and how the EU is planning to become climate neutral in 2050.

Furthermore, I have also learned how to write a good news article. It is quite difficult to write concisely about a relevant development or a new Commission strategy. Every article you write is checked by colleagues and an editor in the end, which ensures that you learn a lot about how best to word something. They provide feedback and give you a chance to revise or change your wording or the content in general. I’m sure this will benefit me long after my placement is over. I have developed better reporting skills, I have learned how to write better articles and I have learned how to read and understand an abstract text and interpret it into something practical and understandable.

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10 I have been able to broaden my knowledge on EU policy and law, while doing different projects. And besides all the writing, reading and research skills I gained, I have been able to expand my network. I am glad I had such great colleagues at KED who valued my work, since this allows me to see and acknowledge what I am capable of. I am proud of the work I delivered at KED and I would not want to have missed out on this placement.

Independence and supervision

I really enjoyed the level of independence and trust I received at KED. First of all, my colleagues let me quite free to write articles. The news articles or other informative pieces I would write would always be my own interpretation to them. It was only when I . Furthermore, they would always listen to my ideas and were always interested in what I had to say. This is another thing I was happy about, I felt comfortable and valued at KED. If I wanted to explore another policy area, my colleagues were more than willing to involve me. This was the case for the topic of Brexit, and after a month I was added to the Brexit-team. Also on this team they valued my input and were happy with my contributions. The level of independence and responsibility I encountered as a placement student were more that of a regular employee. I really liked this, as I really felt part of the team and valued as an employee. I have never had the feeling that I was just an intern, which is nice.

The supervision from KED was great. This placement was very different from a normal placement, because of the corona pandemic. However, my supervisor always involved me, called to check in on me and always made sure I was still enjoying the placement. We would have 30 minute coffee breaks at least once every week, and often more times. Nothing was too crazy and I could always speak my mind during these talks. In that regard, the level of independence and supervision at my placement were perfect for me.

2.2 Personal development

My personal learning process, as was my professional learning process, was significant. I have learned a lot about me as a person and what I am capable of doing during this placement. This section will set out my personal development by reference to the prior set personal development objectives.

Assertiveness

In my placement plan, I had stated that I wanted to be more assertive. This was the main challenge I decided to focus on during my placement. One of the first steps in being more

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11 assertive was to undertake action and get to know everyone in the organisation. During my first two weeks, I had reached out to every colleague to make a Microsoft Teams appointment during which we would drink coffee and learn more about each other. This was quite awkward in the beginning, as you do not know anyone and you are going to meet them digitally. In the end, I am super glad I did this, as I now knew everyone and could reach out to them whenever I had a question.

Furthermore, during my quest to become more assertive I tried to give input and ideas for as many things as possible. In the beginning, this was still quite hard for me to do. I always thought ‘’I am just an intern, what do I know about this matter?’’, but I quickly learned that it can be good if a layman or someone who does not know much about a topic gives his or her honest opinion and lays questions on the table. This way, you can give each other new insights. As soon as this became clear to me, I stepped up my game. When writing news articles, I would always ask for feedback from others, and in turn, provided others with feedback. Also, when developing the EU-magazine for provinces on renewable energy, I took it upon myself to prepare a plan with possible sub-topics and a list on who to interview. My colleagues really liked what I had prepared and in the end, almost the entire plan was taken over and put into practice. This is something I am most proud of, as I really showed assertiveness for this and it was received very well. I have learned from this that suggesting things are received well most of the time. So, even though it was sometimes still hard to be more assertive, this organisation and my colleagues provided for a space where sharing ideas and input was possible.

Critical view

Another thing I have learned is to always keep a critical view and to not believe everything instantly. The European Commission can sometimes provide information in published strategies that is close to EU propaganda, where it is set out how great the EU is and how it is going to fix a certain problem. When writing an article about this, it is important to stay objective and to view things from different sides. The article should be written for the target group of local and regional governments and the needs of the target group should be put first. The Commission might be claiming to improve EU-funding for sustainable initiatives, which would help become climate neutral in 2050, but might be doing so by expanding administrative burdens for receiving EU-funding. This could be disadvantageous for local and regional governments. When reading EU strategies and legislation, it is thus always important to keep a critical view when writing about it. I found this quite hard in the beginning, but after some time I really learned to think critically as to what the consequence of EU legislation would be for the target group.

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Strengths and weaknesses

One of my biggest weaknesses is not being able to ask for help whenever I do not understand something. I always want to do everything myself and sometimes this could bring me in a tricky situation where I had multiple tasks that were headed towards a deadline and I was still stuck on the same task. My supervisor has taught me that it is okay to ask for clarification or help if something is not working out. I decided to give it a try and as a result, I have learned to cooperatively work more with my colleagues without feeling inferior. I have learned to deal with criticism better, as colleagues would always give me constructive criticism. They have always acknowledged my abilities, and so I have really come to enjoy working together more.

During the placement I have come to learn that I have quite good organisational skills. I have rarely missed a deadline for a news article or another task, I have come to learn a lot about prioritising my tasks and I have also learned to say no from time to time. I always want to help and please everyone. However, by doing so, it raises the amount of tasks I get assigned and therefore also my stress level. My placement supervisor has taught me to say no from time to time, so that my main tasks will not be neglected. I still find this hard, as it feels like letting someone down, but saying no does help to stay on top of things and further develop my prioritising and organisational skills.

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Chapter 3. After Placement

I have learned a lot during my placement, such as how to best write a news article and how EU legislation transfers into the daily work of employees at a municipality for example. There could be many vague aspects about EU legislation that might not be clear for those people that have to consider the rules daily. In my opinion, it is amazing that there is an organisation that analyses EU policy and legislation and tries to help those who do not understand what is specifically asked of them. This chapter will reflect on the prior expectations, but will also set out future career prospects and tips for future placement students.

3.1 Reflections on prior expectations

First of all, I had no idea what to expect of doing an online placement. When reflecting on the online component of the placement, I find that it is very much possible to work remotely from home. Of course, there are some hard moments and I would much rather prefer to do the placement at the office, but it was very much doable from home. The main reason for this was the support from my colleagues and more so my placement supervisor. We had weekly meetings in which we discussed the tasks and the progress of the placement, but during these meetings we also had coffee and just talked about all kinds of things. We would also Skype each other on random times of the day, just to talk. This made the level of human contact during the online placement very pleasant and made me feel as I really was a part of the organisation. I also did this with other colleagues, which was really nice. It is one thing to learn a lot about the inner workings of the EU, but another to gain a real feel for the organisation. Through close contact with colleagues this was possible, and I am very thankful for that. Another thing that had helped me through this online placement were daily walks of about 30 minutes up to one hour. It can be very stressful and sometimes even depressing to be in the exact same seat in the exact same room you also sleep in, and walks during the lunch break would break that tension. This clears your head and prepares you for the rest of the day. It really helped me through this online placement.

Moreover, I have learned a lot about the European Union and European policy and law. I did not know much about the inner workings of the EU or how to go about reading EU Directives, but I can now safely say that I understand way more about how the EU works and about how to read EU legislation. I never studied European law, but I now do understand part of it. It is still a learning process. Also, it is super interesting to know and see how the EU rules

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14 for renewable energy for example transit into Dutch legislation and how provinces and municipalities are going about the realisation of the renewable energy targets for 2030 and 2050.

Now that I understand how to read EU legislation, I can find the interesting parts of the legislation for Dutch local and regional governments more easily. I now understand what the target group is for writing a news article and how to go about this. It is for example best to start with an explanation of what a certain Directive does, then set out what the rules are going to change for the Netherlands and then explain what this means for the target group. I have come to really like digging into EU legislation and trying to word it in a practical and easy to understand manner. Your critical thinking skills will be tested, which is really nice.

One issue I did struggle with was the fact that I did not experience the practical side of the placement, which made the placement very theoretical and sometimes boring to that extent. KED normally organises and gives a lot of presentations on EU policy and law. They would travel to certain cities and provinces and would always allow interns to come with. Moreover, at least once every half a year employees of KED would travel to Brussels to meet with the representatives of local and regional governments there. It is a real pity that I did not get to experience all of this because of the corona pandemic. Do not get me wrong, I have come to really enjoy learning about the EU and reading about its policy and legislation, but this could sometimes turn into a bit of a drag. I have tried to vary my tasks to change the daily dynamics, which worked, but I wish I had also gotten to experience the practical part of the placement. This would make the entire placement experience so much more interesting and insightful I believe. However, although I did not experience the practical side of things, I still really enjoyed the placement and I have learned a lot. For that matter, I am glad I chose KED to do my placement at.

3.2 Reflections on connection between placement and IR

There is a clear connection between IR and the tasks I did during my placement. For one, this placement was all about critical thinking and understanding, skills that are high on the agenda at IR. During this placement I could really practice my critical thinking skills. The question always was: what does the EU institution want with this policy and what does that

mean for Dutch local and regional governments? It was all about understanding what was

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15 Secondly, many skills such as research, writing and understanding academic language came in handy during this placement. Doing research and writing news articles and website pieces were part of my daily tasks. Subsequently, there was a lot of academic language used in EU Regulations, Directives and new strategies. These are sometimes hard to understand, but because of all the difficult readings during the IR Master, I feel like I was more prepared for it. Of course, there were moments where I feel like I truly did not understand what was said or meant, but this is part of the learning process.

Lastly, I was working on European, cross-border issues every day. Every day, I was reading on developments withing the European realm and was tasked with writing about many of them. For example, the breach between the UK and the EU was one of which we have learned about at IR. For me, it was super interesting to see our expectations of what was going to happen when we talked about Brexit during lectures fulfilled and to interact closely with the topic. The same goes for a subject as the Green Deal or EU funding. This placement really has complemented my knowledge of the field of IR. Not only through practical experiences, but also through an enhancement of my academic skillset.

3.3 Reflections on future career prospects

In about December of 2020, I got offered a position at KED as a project-based employee after my placement ended. I would do something completely different than what I did during my placement, which is analysing better regulation suggestions for the European Commission. These suggestions are thought of by cities, who are faced with EU legislation in their daily work. Certain bottlenecks might arise and through the EU’s better regulation initiative, cities (or other stakeholders for that matter) can suggest a change in existing legislation or might initiate a new field that needs to be regulated. This way the EU tries to create as few as possible administrative burdens.

During my placement, I did not yet work with the topic of better regulation, but I have always thought it is very interesting to know more about it. This job opening gave me a perfect opportunity to further expand my skills and knowledge about the EU and its better regulation process. It is for two days a week, which gives me enough time to also write my Master thesis. I am looking forward to keep developing my skills in informing and advising Dutch local and regional governments in another EU-related field, namely that of better regulation.

This placement has given me a broad (in terms of topics) and targeted look into working with EU policy and law and how this translates into the daily work of national and subnational

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16 authorities in the Netherlands. It provided me with nice and useful contacts in the Netherlands and Brussels and I could really see myself working in this field in the future. There are so many features and it is so interesting to know more about it and to be able to provide help for employees of a municipality when it comes to EU legislation. Furthermore, it is amazing to see that cooperation through a political and economic union as the EU could make a Member States and its subnational authorities more competitive. There are many opportunities, as cooperating with the neighbouring country on the matter of security or using EU funding for the realisation of a hydrogen network. Clearly, there are also challenges, but I believe that the pros weigh out the cons.

3.4 Tips for future placement students at KED

The first tip is a general one. I realised that one of the most important things is to start early with your search for a placement. I was lucky I found an amazing placement so fast as I did, this may however not always be the case. I see many students trying to find a placement a month before they have to start, but I can imagine this brings a lot of stress and uncertainty. I started my search for this placement in February of 2020 and kept a close eye on the career services portal on Nestor and searched independently until I found interesting placements. I then wrote a motivation letter, updated my Curriculum Vitae and subsequently met with my placement supervisor from the RUG to talk about the many different issues that come with finding a placement. I rewrote my motivation letter many times and then sent it out in April of 2020. This is already two Months into the placement finding journey. So the number one thing I would suggest other students is to start early, even though there is not a lot of vacancies yet. It is never too early to start exploring the field.

Now onto the tips for this particular placement. KED is a very nice organisation with a young team of colleagues. They are all very nice people, and I would suggest to start off with a ‘’get to know each other’’ coffee moment, in which you make appointments one on one to get to know all of your new colleagues. You might not be working with all of them directly, but since KED is a small organisation it is nice to know everyone in case you might need something one day. Also, you should always feel free to ask your colleagues about something you do not understand, especially during an online placement. They understand how hard it is and are more than willing to help.

Another thing I would want to suggest to other students is to feel free to broaden your interests. If there is a subject that interests you a lot, it is probably more than possible to do something with this subject. In my case, this was Brexit. I was initially hired for the topic of

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17 sustainability, but already during my placement interview I expressed interest in the topic of Brexit. A month into the placement I was asked if I was still interested and since then I got to monitor the news and write articles regarding Brexit and was able to help in updating the Brexit impact scan for local and regional authorities. If you express your interests, there is likely enough room to explore them. Lastly, I would like to say: be assertive and show your interests in the many different EU related topics. It is very nice to come up with some ideas as for example how to make the website more user friendly and ordered, or just to come up with an idea for an interesting development to write a news article about. This is very much appreciated at KED.

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Conclusion.

During my placement I have experienced both a professional and a personal development. I have expanded my knowledge on European policy and law, I have gained research skills, writing skills and organisational skills, but I have also learned to ask for help, say no from time to time and to be more assertive. Of course there were also difficulties and down sides to an online placement, but I really feel like I have made the most of it under the circumstances we live in nowadays.

I challenged myself during this placement, and in return received the trust of my colleagues. I have gotten a job out of this placement, so there must be something I did right, right? I have learned to value my own work, and I am proud that I achieved these insights. There is still a lot to learn and I and want to develop myself further professionally and personally. I want to keep challenging myself and I want to explore new possibilities. For now, I will be exploring the scope of the EU better regulation initiative. Bring it on!

Overall, I am very glad I was able to do a placement at Kenniscentrum Europa decentraal. I have met amazing people and I have been able to broaden my network, I have gained a lot of knowledge about the inner workings of the EU and how decisions made at the EU level influence the daily work of local and regional governments, and I have been able to develop my research, writing and reading skills. I feel like the IR Masters has partially prepared me for this placement, especially by teaching to always keep a critical mindset. Together with the skills learned during the IR Masters, this placement has broadened my knowledge and provided me with a broad skillset. I am glad I was challenged and I am glad I learned from the challenges that presented themselves. To sum up, I am happy that this online placement at KED was a success. It is now time to put all the learned skills into practice during the rest of my career path.

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Appendix I. Logbook of weekly tasks and activities (in Dutch)

2020

Week 36:

- Kennismaking met collega’s

- Het bijwerken van de Feedly (nieuwssite) voor berichten voor in de nieuwsbrief - Overleg voor de EU-wijzer voor provincies over agrofood

- Stand-up adviseuren voor het vertellen waar je mee bezig bent

- Het schrijven van 3 berichten voor de Europese Ster (berichten worden de week erna gepubliceerd)

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Duits voorzitterschap Raad van de EU ▪ Wijziging MER tarieven

▪ Consultatie over groene claims

- Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

Week 37:

- Kennismaking met collega’s

- Het bijwerken van de Feedly (nieuwssite) voor berichten voor in de nieuwsbrief - Introductiebijeenkomst nieuwe medewerkers VNG

- Overleg voor de EU-wijzer voor provincies over agrofood - Werkzaamheden voor de EU-wijzer

- Stand-up adviseuren voor het vertellen waar je mee bezig bent - Sterkwartier

- Het schrijven van 2 berichten voor de Ster (berichten worden de week erna gepubliceerd)

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Consultatie energie gerelateerde richtlijnen ▪ Jaarbericht 2019 Nederlandse inbreng EU-Hof - Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

Week 38:

- Het bijwerken van de Feedly (nieuwssite) voor berichten voor in de nieuwsbrief - KED inwerkgroepje vergadering over het stikstofdossier en hoe je het beste een

nieuwsbericht kan schrijven

- Overleg voor de EU-wijzer voor provincies over agrofood - Werkzaamheden voor de EU-wijzer (teksten schrijven)

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Consultatie over actieplan voor biologische landbouw - Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

Week 39:

- Werkzaamheden voor de EU-wijzer (teksten schrijven en interviewvragen bedenken voor Ilse Zaal)

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20 - Het schrijven van 2 berichten voor de Ster (berichten worden de week erna

gepubliceerd) o Inhoudelijk

▪ Consultatie Ecodesignrichtlijn

▪ Consultatie herziening staatssteunregels voor uitrol breedbandinfrastructuur

- Starten op het Brexit dossier → uitleg gekregen wat het inhoudt en wat KED doet met impact scan voor overheden & verdeeld modules (ik heb module C)

Week 40:

- Werkzaamheden voor de EU-wijzer (teksten schrijven & opstellen actuele index met voorstellen van Commissie)

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Commissie start inbreukprocedure tegen VK

- Brexit → bericht schrijven voor Brexit-update nieuwsbrief en die ook opmaken en verzenden. Bericht ging over de negende onderhandelingsronde EU-VK

- Brexit → updaten van de impact scan (met name module C en het dossier visserij) - Ontmoeten Team Europa van de VNG (vergadering)

Week 41:

- Vooral veel werkzaamheden voor de EU-wijzer (teksten schrijven en een eerste versie opstellen en beoordelen)

- Speeddate met collega’s van de VNG om nieuwe collega’s te leren kennen - Stand-up adviseuren voor het vertellen waar je mee bezig bent

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Consultatie op herziening Verpakkingsrichtlijn ▪ Publicatie EU-wijzer voor provincies

- Brexit → updaten van de impact scan (met name module C en andere modules) - Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

Week 42:

- Het bijwerken van de Feedly (nieuwssite) voor berichten voor in de nieuwsbrief - Publicatie van de EU-wijzer voor provincies over agrofood

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Faciliteit voor herstel en veerkracht ▪ Bericht over webinar Green Deal

▪ Commissie presenteert Renovation Wave strategie ▪ Standpunt Europese Raad over Brexit

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21 - Brexit → updaten van de impact scan (met name module C en andere modules) &

zwaluwstaarten tegen de BIS voor bedrijven van BZK - Pro10 college over aanbesteden

Week 43:

- Het bijwerken van de Feedly (nieuwssite) voor berichten voor in de nieuwsbrief - Stand-up adviseuren voor het vertellen waar je mee bezig bent

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Methaanstrategie

▪ Strategie voor duurzame chemische stoffen

- Ondersteunen bij publiceren van berichten op de website en het verzenden van de Europese Ster

- Brexit → updaten van de impact scan (met name module C en andere modules) & zwaluwstaarten tegen de BIS voor bedrijven van BZK

- Pro10 college over aanbesteden

- Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken - Start opstellen tussentijds verslag voor de RUG

- Bijwonen 2 seminars voor de European Week of the Regions and Cities over circular food production and making farm-to-fork strategies work

- Vrijdag een vrije dag

Week 44:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Circulair bouwe en aanbesteden: het CBCI-project

- Brexit → updaten van de impact scan (met name module C en andere modules) - Pro10 college over aanbesteden

- Start EU-wijzer voor provincies met als thema hernieuwbare energie - Het maken van een opzet voor de EU-wijzer qua structuur en index - Kennismakingsgesprek nieuwe collega

Week 45:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Stand van zaken onderhandelingen Brexit november 2020

- Brexit → zorgen dat de update van de impact scan definitief is en doorgevoerd kan worden

- Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken - EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie - Het verdelen van de inhoud, wie doet wat …

o Ik doe het hoofdthema stuk samen met Gertrude, waterstof samen met Melanie, en geothermische energie alleen

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22 - Kennismakingsgesprek nieuwe collega en voortgang EU-wijzer bespreken

Week 46:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Hogerhuis van het VK wijst internal market bill deels af

▪ Europese Commissie vraagt feedback op milieu- en klimaatbeleid middels een aantal openbare raadplegingen

- Brexit → BIS geüpdatet

- EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: verder met werkzaamheden

Week 47:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Stand van Zaken artikel rondom het MFK 2021-2027 - Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

- EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: verder met werkzaamheden

Week 48:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Economische EU-groeistrategie – Commissie presenteert najaarspakket

▪ Geef feedback op het gebruik van zuiveringsslib in de landbouw - Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken

- EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: verder met werkzaamheden o Interview gehouden met gedeputeerde van de provincie Zeeland over

hernieuwbare energie in Zeeland ▪ Interview ook uitgewerkt

Week 49:

- Sterkwartier

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Vereenvoudigde en toekomstbestendige EU-regelgeving door het Fit-for-Future platform

▪ Eerlijke, groene en productieve steden: het nieuwe Leipzig Charter en Urban Agenda for the EU

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23 - EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: verder met werkzaamheden

Week 50:

- Sterkwartier

- KED Eteam → Chris Koedooder van het ministerie van EZK kwam praten over aanbesteden in Europa

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Europese Raad: akkoord op EU-meerjarenbegroting en steun voor de EU-klimaatdoelstellingen

- EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: verder met werkzaamheden o Interview gehouden met gedeputeerde van de provincie Groningen over

waterstof en de ontwikkeling van groene waterstof in Groningen

▪ Interview ook uitgewerkt (binnen een dag, want er zat haast achter omdat het gecheckt moest worden bij Groningen en drie dagen later moest worden gepubliceerd)

Week 51:

- Sterkwartier

- Eindejaarsbijeenkomst VNG - Eindejaarsbijeenkomst KED

- Webinar bijgewoond over de lancering van het Europese Klimaatpact - Gesprek met Fenna over eventuele baan bij KED na stage

- Overzicht maken van de duurzaamheidspagina’s op de website en of deze up-to-date zijn

- EU-wijzer voor provincies over hernieuwbare energie: publicatie magazine Twee weken vakantie

2021

Week 1:

- Sterkwartier

- Brexit → BIS geüpdatet, omdat er met kerst een deal is gesloten tussen de EU en het VK.

o Het was best wel chaos, omdat het eigenlijk binnen 7 werkdagen moest worden geüpload. Uiteindelijk is dit met twee weken gelukt.

o Ik heb me hiervoor bezig gehouden met verschillende modules, waaronder agro, visserij en internationale samenwerking

- Koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken - Pro10 college over aanbesteden

Week 2:

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24 - Bespreken en ondertekenen van contract bij Bihka

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Brexit: Europese Commissie presenteert Brexit Adjustment Reserve ▪ Europese Commissie vraagt feedback op beleid voor biodiversiteit en

methaanlekkage

- Voorbereiden Green Deal presentatie Jos

Week 3:

- Sterkwartier

- Start met een nieuw project (Urban Agenda for the EU) waarmee ik ook na mijn stage voor 2 dagen in de week mee aan de slag ga

- Brexit: praktijkvraag updaten & kijken welke modules van de BIS in de gaten moeten worden gehouden

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Faciliteit voor herstel en veerkracht: 37% gereserveerd voor het behalen van de klimaatdoelstellingen

▪ Nieuw Europees Bauhaus

- Geen koffiemomentje om de voortgang met Jos te bespreken (i.v.m. verlof Jos)

Week 4:

- Sterkwartier

- Urban Agenda EU: actieplannen verzamelen en info verzamelen zodat we een start kunnen maken

o Ook better regulation overleg

o Inhoudelijk

▪ Nieuw plan voor Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Inkopen: ‘opdrachtgeven met ambitie, inkopen met impact’ - Overdrachtsdocument maken voor de nieuwe stagiair en Melanie

o Meeting met Melanie over de overdracht - Eindgesprek stage met Laura en Monika

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