An awful lot of experience and commitment...

This afternoon EESC President Staffan Nilsson and I congratulated some thirty officials who had completed twenty, thirty or (in two cases) forty years’ service for the EU and the Committee. Forty! The very thought makes me feel humble. I was still at school in 1971. It is a very enjoyable occasion. As always excellently organised by our HR colleagues, each colleague gets a certificate and has her or his photograph taken with the President and the Secretary General. In addition, I gave a little speech, with elements prepared or contributed by close colleagues, on each of the recipients. It is always a voyage of discovery. I learned that one colleague has climbed Africa’s highest mountains and written a book about Mount Kilimanjaro; another’s secret passion is collecting orchids; another is a passionate expert on the world’s 6,000+ languages. It’s simply a lovely occasion. After thirty speeches and over an hour at the podium I had a slightly sore throat but I wouldn’t do it otherwise for all the tea in China.

This morning the Committee and more specifically its external relations section has welcomed Pierre Vimont, the first and current Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS). After an amicable and productive ‘bilateral’ meeting with the President of the external relations section, Sandy Boyle (UK/Employees Group), Vimont addressed the sections’ members, first explaining the physiology of the EEAS, which is still a work under construction and which is a composite 3,600-strong administration of Commission, Council and Member State officials but not a new institution and which has only partial budgetary autonomy (for administrative expenditure). As a fellow Secretary-General, listening in to his description, I am deeply impressed at how well-functioning order has already been brought out of such challenging complexity. The EEAS is one of the major innovations in the Lisbon Treaty and its growing success, particularly away from the headlines, represents a wonderful example of Europeans’ ingenius ability to get on ever better with themselves and with the world around them. In that context Vimont addressed the burning issues south and east of the Union, where civil society organisations and civil society more generally are playing such important driving roles. The EESC, with its structured dialogues with civil society organisations and institutions, where those exist, is well-placed to play a supporting role and Vimont indeed confirmed the value of the EESC’s contribution and his willingness to work closely with it.

This evening, again at the sprogs’ insistence, we watched  Streetdance. Again (see previous posts) the plot was nothing to write home about but the dancing is simply prodigious. Like White Nights, this film’s particular originality lies in its bringing together of two very different types of dance – in this case, street and ballet. The film’s basic message is a joyous one – the sense of freedom that unconstrained artistic self-expression can bring, if the underlying discipline and technical ability are in place. Oh, yes, and the presence of a majestic and ever-handsome Charlotte Rampling would make this film worth a watch in any case.

The UN's Nabarro, EESC President Nilsson, and European Commissioner Ciolos

Today President Staffan Nilsson and the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission jointly hosted a major international conference on the theme of food for everyone – towards a global deal. The list of high-level participants is too long to reproduce here, but the full details of the programme and participants can be seen here. After opening sessions, the conference broke up into workshops on such themes as the global agricultural markets, food security as a right, the need for policy coherence and food security in developing countries. Our UN guests of the previous evening were joined, inter alia, by Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. In a further measure of the importance attached to the conference, two European Commissioners attended, Dacian Ciolos (responsible for Agriculture and Rural development) and Andris Piebalgs (responsible for Development). Indeed, Ciolos stayed at the conference all day. An excellent summary video of the conference is available on You Tube here. The conference conclusions will be published soon and I will post a link to them here. All-in-all, it was a good day and a highly productive one. In his closing remarks, Dacian Ciolos declared that he would leave ‘with greater hope and a clearer mind’ and I think that sentiment was generally shared.

This evening we went to see Wim Wenders’ cinematic hommage to the German choreographer, Pina Bausch. The film started out as a collaborative effort but in June 2009 – just five days after diagnosis – Bausch died of an unspecified form of cancer. Wenders reportedly thought of abandoning the work, but went on to complete it with the help of her Tanztheatre Wuppertal troupe. Part (very short) interview-based documentary, part filmed performance of her works in the theatre and in choice locations, the film conveys the deep love she inspired in those she worked with and gives colourful tastes of her work. One or more biographies are surely on their way, and deservedly so. In the meantime one can only wonder at Bausch’s particular mixture of sombre analysis of the human condition (Café Müller) and joyous celebration of human diversity (Tanzträume).

Tonight, under sprog pressure, we watched and quite enjoyed Step Up 3D, a sort of soppy West Side Story without Bernstein, Shakespeare or violence but with one huge redeeming feature; the dancing. The basic plot is a battle to the finals of the World Jam dance contest by two dance crews composed of low-lifers and misfits who would otherwise be on New York meanstreets. Forget about the story, though, and just concentrate on the stupendous dancing. In fact, the film reminded me of a film I saw yonks ago (1985), White Nights, which was supposedly a Cold War thriller but was in reality a shaggily-plotted excuse to allow two prodigious dancers from different genres, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, to dance together and, my!, how they danced. Here, thanks to You Tube , are a few examples: here, and here (Hines’s tap solo), and here (Baryshnikov’s eleven pirouettes!). And here’s a little somethinhg from Step Up.

OK, OK, I know I sometimes go out on something of a limb, but this weekend’s Financial Times carries a fascinating interview with ‘reverse graffiti’ artist Paul ‘Moose’ Curtis. He creates his graffiti not by spraying dirt onto walls but by cleaning dirt away. He is frequently stopped by the police, wherever he works, but they always end up flummoxed. After all, since when has it been a crime to clean away dirt, no matter how selectively?

Robert Taylor

This evening we went to the vernissage of a small photographic exhibition in a local gallery which is, in reality, normally an artist’s studio. The conceit was simple; a male photographer (Robert Taylor) exploring what it is to be a woman and a female photographer (raffa k.) exploring the opposite. Raffa k. left visitors to find their own way around her art, which was fine, but through his programme notes Taylor led his viewers into the maze that he himself had explored: ‘As a gay man it’s tricky enough just trying to work out what being a man can mean, never mind what it’s like or what it means to be a woman.’ I like the idea of the artist lending her house to fellow artists and the public. The exhibition – its small scale, the hospitality, the artist’s space – was great fun.

It was with immense pride, joy and sadness that I learned today of the appointment of current EESC member Jillian van Turnhout (Irish/Various Interests Group) as a member of the Irish Senate. I began working closely with Jillian on communication issues just as soon as I arrived at the Committee in the autumn of 2003. She went on to become Vice-President of the Committee and President of its Communication Group, but she was always deeply rooted in domestic affairs (as every good EESC member should be) and in particular in forwarding the interests of the Irish Children’s Rights Alliance, of which she is Chief Executive. Her personal statement can be read here. We are all happy for Jillian and immensely proud of her. I have no doubt that she will be a brilliant Senator, just as she has been a brilliant EESC member, and that she will remain a good and passionate European. But, hell, we’ll miss her. She has been a good friend to me personally and I wish her all the very, very best.