Once a year the Belgian King and Queen organise a New Year reception for the ‘authorities of the European Union’s institutions’ – basically, the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries-General, Permanent Representatives and other office holders. There’s some queuing, followed by an announcement and a quick handshake, followed by the reception itself. Whilst the King holds audiences with the Presidents of the Commission, Parliament and European Council, the other members of the Royal Family – the Queen, Prince Philip, Princess Mathilde – circulate. Last year I attended for the first time and wrote a post about Jan Fabre’s extraordinary ceiling. This morning, what struck me the most was that it is a sort of networking event par excellence. Certainly, my President and Vice-Presidents got a lot of business done, meeting with their counterparts in the various institutions…
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