Lalko2I am writing this at the end of a very busy week that saw, variously, meetings of the Committee’s Bureau (on Tuesday afternoon) and of its Plenary Session (Wednesday and Thursday). Thankfully, all went well. The plenary saw a number of important debates. I should flag up in particular a debate about food security in the world with guest speakers including Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Repporteur on the Right to Food, and Stephen Muchiri, Chief Executive of the Eastern African Farmers Federation (EAFF). The Committee’s clear conclusion is that food security is, and should be, a fundamental human right. We also had a distinguished guest in the form of Lalko Dulevsky (picture), who is President of the Bulgarian Economic and Social Council and who has been acting with great success as President of the overall network of national economic and social councils of the European Union. There could have been no better illustration of the way the newest member states are, at all levels and in all contexts, eager to play a full role in the Union’s economic and social life.