“Oh,
so you must be the yogi! We hired you so you could teach the office yoga.” This
was my first interaction with Kinga Goncz, Member of the European Parliament
representing Hungary. Mrs. Goncz
or “Kinga,” she insists her staff calls her, is member of the Group of the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. As
member of this platform she advocates for human rights and implementation of
governmental programs to support the poor. From what I understand thus far, it
is similar to a further left version of the American Democratic Party. She is able to exert a fare amount of
influence over parliamentary decisions as a Vice Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. This committee is one of the largest
working groups within parliament and handles a multitude of issues ranging from
immigration to national security and civil rights. On Thursday I was sent to
“take minutes,” summarize, a joint debate on the movement of Roma people and
their living conditions in cities across the EU. Kinga presided over this
hearing and offered the initial response to the Roma Commissioner chair’s report
on Roma movements. Her response embodied much of the platforms she represents;
she felt the investigative commission had failed miserably to address the issue
of Roma housing, and further believed the harsh treatment of the Roma people
reflected the animosity most western European governments feel toward this
group. I feel very lucky to have
been placed with Mrs. Goncz because the committees she presides over and serves
on align well with my interests and values.
Mrs.
Goncz also holds a fare about of sway in parliament because she is the former secretary
of state in Hungary and is the daughter of the former president of Hungary. Additionally,
as a member of the S&D party, she belongs to the second largest party in
the parliament and one of the three oldest parties. The Socialist Democrats group formed during the
establishment of the Common Assembly of the European Steal and Coal Commission,
and has remained a dominant force in parliament ever since. Many of the
presidents of the parliament have come from the ranks of the S and D party.
While it can certainly be said that this party is a powerful one within
parliament, in recent years the Christian Democrats party has risen to greater
prominence. This was awkwardly evident during a vote on the budget, in which
Kinga was orchestrating the S&D members votes, when S&D failed to win
all but a few of the amendments to the budget. With every down vote my
supervisor cursed under his breath, not the best second interaction with a boss
I have ever had. While this was a set back for Kinga’s party, this was only one
vote on one set of amendments in one committee, I am sure they win votes as
often as they lose them.
The
break down of the office is as follows; MEP Goncz attends meetings and gives
speeches on a fairly consistent basis throughout the day. While she is away
from the office, her three assistants work to prepare her for whatever meeting
she will attend next. The work is divided amongst the three by subject matter,
my direct supervisor is Ballazs Rottek, he exclusively oversees Kinga’s work
with the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. This is great for me, because it means
I get to sit in on the upcoming hearings regarding the NSA’s surveillance of
the EU Parliament and report on them to Ballazs. The last member of my office
is my fellow intern, Zita, a very pretty Hungarian girl who will be working in
the parliament for a month. Mrs. Goncz keeps rotating interns from Hungary for
month and two month long stents. She believes any Hungarian young person should
get to see how they are represented…swoon.
My favorite part about working with
my office is the approachability of my MEP, Emma and Kelly are a week into their internships and have not spoken to their Maltese MEP. On my first day Kinga was very busy
preparing the upcoming Strasbourg week, yet she still insisted I come in and
talk with her for five minutes about what I am interested in accomplishing
during my time in her office. I told her I wanted to see conflict resolution in
action, she smiled and said “you’ve come to the right place.”
