Nikos Mertzanidis

The 27th and 28th of November were two days dedicated to organizing the *Protocol Days*, with invitations extended to all diplomatic missions and consular posts established in Belgium. The following topics were developed : - The Lifecycle of Soecial Status 2025 : From Accreditation to Departure - Key principales, recent updates, and practical guidance for protocol officers as well as the rôle of the Immigration Office for the diplomatic community establishments in Belgium. - External security of diplomatic missions : Procedure for security request and emerging challenges : cyberthreats, disinformation and physical security. - ⁠Presenting the Egmont Palace and its Conférence Center - ⁠Foreign visits - introduction on state, official and working visits to Belgium as well as procédures at airport, badges, vehicles and security issues. It was a valuable opportunity to exchange, share the procedural protocols used in Belgium and strengthen cooperation within the diplomatic community.

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🚆🇪🇺 Exciting times ahead: the EU’s draft 2028–2034 MFF includes a historic doubling of transport infrastructure funding (from ≈ €25.6 bn to ≈ €51.5 bn) and a tenfold boost in military mobility spending (~€17 bn). This is a strategic breakthrough, recognizing transport infrastructure as essential to EU cohesion, competitiveness, and security. For Romania, it means: 📌 Faster upgrades to TEN‑T corridors and Solidarity Lanes 📌 Revamped port and multimodal logistics in Constanța, Galați, Sulina 📌 Balanced investments in road, rail, river and urban networks 📌 A clearer path to attract investors and accelerate projects aligned with EU’s eastern and defence priorities 📍 Romania stands at the crossroads of Europe — the time to invest is now. #EUTransport #TEN‑T #Romania #MilitaryMobility #InfrastructureInvestment #EuropeanCohesion

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At yesterday’s European Council, EU leaders — including Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever — focused mainly on two key strategic priorities: 🛡️ Defence: advancing European defence integration through joint investments, standardisation, interoperability, and strengthening Europe’s defence & industrial base. 📈 Competitiveness: addressing global trade tensions, high energy prices, and delivering results on the single market and strategic trade opportunities. Our Directorate-General for EU Affairs @SPF Affaires étrangères, Commerce extérieur et Coopération au Développement coordinated Belgium’s position across the full agenda, from Ukraine and the Middle East to defence, competitiveness, migration, enlargement and the Western Balkans. #EUCO #Defence #Competitiveness #Geoeconomics #StrategicAutonomy #EUaffairs

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The European Commission is pleased to announce the adoption by the European Parliament of the new BRIDGEforEU Regulation on 6 May 2025. The Regulation establishes a new instrument “to facilitate identifying and resolving cross-border obstacles”. Around 150 million Europeans live close to a border, in regions with a huge potential for economic growth and integration but whose development and interactions are hindered by legal and administrative discrepancies. According to a study funded by the Commission, removing 20% of current obstacles would boost GDP by 2% in cross-border regions and create over one million jobs.

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As the Brussels-bubble event season is starting, here some advice from a non-event organiser that has suffered through many events. Invitations needs to be clear. Information such as date, time, place and agenda need to be easily findable. Fancy formatting often makes it more difficult to navigate the invitation because it rarely looks good after having been processed by security systems before arriving in my inbox. Do not offend the invitees. Make it easy to sign-up and do not force me to make an account. On a personal note, do not write in bold and capital letters that you got “all relevant policymakers” on the panel, when no Member State is present. I like to think that Member States are important too. Avoid echo-chambers. Too many events end up being a therapy session where panellists agree that someone should do something. The organisers tend to think it makes a great event, while the poor policymaker in the panel and most of the audience are looking for the emergency exists. Keep it real – avoid Pseudo-discussions. Too often, panel discussions resemble poor theatrical performances with well-rehearsed and standard answers to anticipated questions. It lacks the nerve that keeps the audience’s attention. Interesting panels start with panellists of different views that have a genuine discussion. Steer the discussion. That means getting a good moderator asking the tough questions. Answers to uncomfortable questions are where the audience is alert and where the answers can make a real impact. Use the buzz-word bingo detector. Most people in Brussels possesses the ability to speak at length without saying anything substantial. Make sure that the moderator is well-prepared and has the ability recognise and cut-through when a panellist suffers from excessive talking. That also means quitting opening remarks or keep them short. Expectation management. Make sure that people participating in the discussion have time and material to prepare. But do not hand out the exact questions before the event to avoid pseudo-discussions.

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The EU-US Framework Agreement offers the best path to avoid damaging escalation and advance a more positive, cooperative transatlantic agenda. We continue to oppose tariffs, but there’s a bigger €8.7 trillion economic relationship at stake. We hope to see the Commission’s tariff reduction proposals adopted swiftly by the European Parliament and Member States, so that the rest of the implementation can move ahead. My quick take at the end of a lively Euractiv debate on EU-US trade and the implementation of the deal ⬇️

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Last week in Brussels, we brought together policymakers and tourism leaders to discuss how tourism can support the revitalisation of rural Europe. As travel demand continues to shift beyond major cities, rural destinations are becoming an increasingly important part of Europe’s tourism economy. When supported by the right policy frameworks, tourism can strengthen local economies, create jobs and help communities thrive. Distributed accommodation, such as short term rentals, play a key role in enabling this shift, particularly in areas where traditional capacity is limited. Thank you to all speakers, Teodora Marinska, Sandra Carvao, Nicholas Hall for a thoughtful discussion. Watch the recap video below to revisit the highlights and continue the conversation on tourism as a force for positive change across rural Europe.

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"Our study shows that the majority of the population in the seven European countries we surveyed has little knowledge of the major sources of air pollutants. Our analysis of perceived polluting sectors has shown that people see industry and vehicular traffic as the most relevant sources of air pollutants. Our findings also indicate that respondents’ education, age, place of residence or gender influence only to a small extent the perception of air pollution causes. This suggests that the lack of information and knowledge about the causes of air pollution is widespread across different socio-economic groups and countries and that even respondents with higher levels of education are not fully aware of the actual sources of air pollution." https://lnkd.in/dY5j8ygu

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Very interesting initiative for cities who want to do more on #participation - particularly for those working in NetZeroCitiesEU Mission Cities, who already have citizen engagement commitments in their Climate City Contracts.

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