One sunny and beautiful day in late April, Jürgen drove 300 miles across Washington to give a public talk at the state’s easternmost university campus, Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman , close to the border with Idaho. During his road trip, he enjoyed the changing and rolling landscapes of Central and Eastern Washington. He made short stops in Ellensburg , and in Vantage where he could admire the view of the Wanapum Dam, a hydropower installation on the Columbia river.
Jürgen’s talk at WSU was hosted by the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service. The Foley Institute was established at WSU in 1995 to honor the 57th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Thomas Foley. The Institute has some similarities with the Evans and Jackson schools at UW in that it aims to engage students in public service. The Foley Institute offers about 40-50 student internships each year in the U.S. Congress and the Washington state legislature.
Jürgen spoke to a mixed audience of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff and community members. They participated very actively in the discussion after the talk and raised many topical subjects on EU affairs. Jürgen answered questions on the importance of science for designing climate policy, how the EU is monitoring its greenhouse gas emissions and meeting its climate obligations, on Brexit and on how the European Union sees its relations with the USA and China after the Paris Agreement.
We are coming up on the end of Jürgen’s time here at the Center for European Studies! He’ll be heading back to Brussels to continue his work as a policy officer at the EU Commission in July.