European Business Environment

In the train from Paris to Bordeaux for a conference about oncology, and I am happy that I finally have a few minutes to write about the European Business Environment seminar in Brussels that happened a few days back. This seminar is the second of five seminars as part of my Executive MBA program at ESCP Business School in five campuses: Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid and Turin. 

People who know me know that I am pan-EU. I believe that a strong and unified Europe is a good thing for the global peace and can help balance the global power dynamics, especially between the US and China.  The EU has achieved a lot since it was created in 1950. It has built a single market that spans 28 Member States with over 500 million citizens free to move and settle where they wish. It created the single currency, The EURO. It is also the largest supplier of development and humanitarian aid programmes in the world. Let’s see if the EU is able to get Europe out of the economic crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine?

It is no joke to say now, that YES, Europe and probably the whole world is at a crossroad!

In Brussels, we met with EU officials to speak about the EU institutions; the European Parliament (the voice of the people), the European Commission (promoting the common interest), and the Council of the European Union (the voice of the Member States). We understood how these entities interact and who takes what decisions, and yes, it is somehow complicated to understand but this is the reason it was a an eye-opening seminar.

We also learned about lobbying in Brussels and how this is structured, who is lobbying, the question of ethics, transparency, and access to resources. Furthermore, we heard different opinions from experts and officials about the subjects of energy, circular economy, climate change, and sustainability. Because of the current war in Europe and its negative impact on the global energy supply as well as its subsequent effects on the economy including inflation, it was the hottest subject. We heard different views and I am now convinced that there is no easy choice when it comes to choosing between the traditional and sustainable sources of energy in the short-term, even if the long-term choice is clear, it must be green.

We also held the class representatives elections and I am very proud and humbled to have been elected by my peers (100 of future leaders coming from 30 nationalities with an average of 14 years work experience), to represent them with my dear colleagues Silvia Pelizzoni Minerve Vicente and Sebastien Dietz.

For me, this is somehow symbolic as it happened in Brussels where the European Union is and during times of uncertainty in Europe, when responsible leadership is more needed than ever!

Public service is in my DNA 🧬 as I was elected to represent and serve my peers lots of times before, in Egypt, the USA (at university and at national levels) and now in Europe.

As class representatives, we will represent the EMBA students from different campuses and cohorts in front of the ESCP business school leadership, represent them during special events as well meetings with journalists, accrediting bodies, the school’s administration, ESCP Alumni association representatives as well as participation in events organized by the CCIP - Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris or other organizations.

We are very much looking forward to serving our peers and working very closely with the school administration to make sure that everyone is able to have the best experience ever during this incredible journey of learning and growing.

I would like to extend my thanks to the remarkable group of speakers we had during this seminar:

Cloos Jim Secretay General at @TEPSA - Trans European Policy Studies Association, Former Director General at Consilium, Advisor for next Swedish Presidency

Niall O'NEILL - Director of Human Resources at the European Parliament

Ruth Bajada - Diplomat European External Action Service

Reinhard Felke - Director DG ECFIN , European Commission

David Earnshaw - Associate Vice President, Public Policy Europe, MSD Europe Inc.

Olivier Delbard - professor at ESCP Europe

Luca Aguzzoni Officer, Economist, Recovery and Resilience Task Force, European Commission

Maria Jesús Alquezar Magallón Sabadie - Policy Officer, SocioEconomic Analyst, DG Environment , European Commission, (E.C.)

Fabrizia Benini - Head of unit Digital Economy, Recovery and Skills at European Commission, DG Connect

Eva Gerhards - Deputy Head of Cabinet, Commissioner for Equality at European Commission

Jillian Mertsch - Senior Director, Government Affairs chez Qualcomm

Didier Patry - CEO at France Brevets

Samuele Furfari - Former assistant to DG Energy, E.C. and Professor to ULB, Brussels. Président chez Société Européenne des Ingénieurs et des Industriels

Stefano Soro - Head of Unit DG Grow, E.C. Head Of Unit - Green and Circular Economy at European Commission

I would like also to use this occasion to thank the amazing ESCP Europe team: Sarah Ballot, Amely Bauer, Francesco Venuti Ines Khedhir Manon Marinière Pierre Wolf of ESCP Business School for organizing this seminar and making sure that everything goes smooth.

Last and foremost, I want to thank my amazing classmates for the great time, positive energy, the collaborative spirit and the friendship. Looking forward to the coming seminars in Brazil/Singapore/China/USA/Madrid.

#leadership #diversity #EU #business #circulareconomy #europe #energy