Hello. I know that many people have weird ideas about what it is like working at an Embassy especially as a local employee. It is clear from the reactions and questions of outsiders including job applicants that unless they have learnt or worked in international relations, people tend to think that embassy work is about visas and ministerial visits. It is much more varied, though. Hence this snapshot.

I work in the Section which is now named Policy and Public Diplomacy. (I agree that the new name reflects better what we do than the archaic “chancery”.) I will not overwhelm you with a full account of the busy last three months, rather want to give you an idea of the variety of our activities.

My title is policy officer. I cover climate, energy, environment and social policy, plus assist my boss with the EU Budget dossier as well. Actually, everything we do these days has a strong EU angle. Policy work means that I monitor and analyse policy developments in my areas from policy formation to implementation, building relevant contacts, and facilitating bilateral discussion enabling policy makers and stakeholders to compare notes with their counterparts.

My work often involves the design and implementation of projects adding practical value in our policy areas. From the examples below, you will see that my colleagues and I have a varied job and you need to use a wide range of skills from language and communication to project management and research. And before you can effectively engage with any contact, you need to read into your subject thoroughly to be credible at meetings and to understand the issues. Since each colleague covers specific policy areas, each of us is required to be well informed to be able to provide authoritative advice on the developments there. However, it is impossible to acquire up-to-date knowledge through background reading only. You also need to network with the relevant experts and learn their views and positions. What does it look like in practice?

In May I took 40 experts from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to London to meet UK government and business contacts, and explore the possibilities of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology with all its legal/ regulatory and technical implications. CCS is one available carbon abatement technology which features on the EU’s and the UK’s climate action programme for its potential to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels.

I met interesting people from all walks of life – government officials, corporate executives, researchers as well as my counterparts at other British Embassies who helped me with the logistics – and have learnt a lot from the UK presenters. The session with industry representatives was particularly convincing. Yorkshire for example have embarked on a CCS project as a joint initiative by the local government and the large industrial company cluster in the region to capture and transport CO2 from the emitters to offshore storage sites under the sea bed. And they are going ahead without government support. They have decided on applying CCS, not because of any government incentive or punishment, but because it makes business sense and they consider a cleaner operation as a means to growth and competitiveness in the longer term. The EU has set an objective of 12 CCS sites by 2014, but few have actually taken any steps in this untapped territory. Those businesses and countries which have tested and developed these clean technologies ahead of others will be able to benefit from the emerging demand world-wide as more countries will feel the pressure to look for solutions.

If you are interested in CCS, you can find the presentations given to the group in London on our CCS page. The Hungarian group included an engineer-journalist. She wrote a series of articles on the subject including on the visit.

The UK has always been very active internationally inducing more ambitious climate change action. I try hard to keep up with the outcome of the various international fora and the expert studies coming out on various aspects of climate change. The UK’s lead is clearly demonstrated by the fact that some of these milestone studies have been made by UK experts, e.g. The Stern Review on the economics of climate change and the Gallagher Review into the indirect impact of biofuels.

The UK’s approach of leading by example does not only include domestic projects, but it involves engaging other countries in the development and demonstration of CCS technology and encouraging them to consider the viability of CCS deployment in the future. One such example is the Near Zero Emission Coal Initiative in China.

In the last three months, I also had a chance to accompany the Ambassador to a few of his introductory calls on senior government officials following a government reshuffle and reorganisation of the affected ministries. It was hands-on experience of core diplomacy in action. This is a bonus of working at the Policy Section of the embassy and I enjoy these opportunities. When I was more junior, I was nervous about having to deal with senior contacts. With age and experience I take these occasions much more easily. Normally, I work with the technical experts of ministries in my policy areas, but from time to time the work involves visits and exchanges at senior level.

In May I attended a conference on the EU Budget Review by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I had a chance to listen to speakers from a wide range of member states including government officials, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), policy researchers, and farmers interest group contributing to the session on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which represents over 43 % of the EU's expenditure. The audience received a comprehensive overview of the problems, the theories of tackling these problems as well as the alliance groups along which the member states have lined up.

While there are considerable differences in how to reform the budget, all seem to agree that the current budget is unsustainable. Its structure reflects the 80s and is not oriented to the future, not flexible and transparent enough, needs redefining to address new challenges like innovation or climate change, i.e. it needs to be driven by modern, common policy needs. These policies are currently not supported at all or inadequately supported. Since the CAP is the single largest expenditure, the cornerstone of the debate is CAP reform. (The abundance of issues associated with CAP reform and the future of agriculture gave us plenty to discuss throughout 2007 in the form of a series of events entitled Budapest Discussions.

I liked the open nature of the debate despite of considerable differences in views e.g. by the French and the UK speaker. You can read about the UK's vision of the EU's budget on the HM Treasury website. The presentation by the speaker of Bruegel (a Brussels based economic policy think tank) was really eye-opening. They have examined what redistribution of Structural Funds achieved across countries and within countries. Their finding was that the allocation was not efficient and did not generate the expected growth with the largest redistribution happening. It has a number of implications for the future of the scheme (focus, structure) and for financial management and programming.

Understandably, there are considerable sensitivities around both the expenditure side and the revenue side of the Budget. It will take a lot of creative thinking to work out a solution that will be endorsed by all players. As one of the speakers, a Hungarian MEP put it “we need to actively drive change, not just follow”. The EU Budget Review policy covers such a wide range of specific issues and have implications for all policy areas that this area will give us plenty of work every time it gets on the agenda.

Then in June the Irish referendum refusing the Lisbon Treaty made headlines. I followed closely and reported the Hungarian reactions. Due to the media attention and some very good analyses in the Hungarian press, I suppose that many more people started to think through what the EU meant for them than otherwise would have been the case. I am not saying that the average citizen should be concerned with details of EU regulations or anything similar. However, discussing or even considering EU issues still seem to be primarily the preserve of university faculties of EU Studies and specialists who work on EU matters. It rarely goes beyond this circle.

The British Foreign Secretary, David Milliband gave a speech on the future of Europe on 2 July. He said the message of the Irish referendum was that the EU’s purpose is not obvious to people. After all, the referendum rejected the Lisbon Treaty partly because of the exasperation with the many years of institutional tinkering within the EU instead of addressing real issues. He also says that the irony is that the refusal was given to the treaty which was aimed to put an end to the institutional debates for the foreseeable future and focus on delivering on real issues. I do recommend having a look at the foreign secretary’s speech. It gives a frank summary of his opinion on the problems and is comprehensible by all. It is good reading even for those who do not know much of the issues behind EU matters. It recaps the key strands of UK foreign policy priorities as well.

Although it might seem that policy staff at the embassy work in distinct compartments, it is far from the case. While we all lead in certain policy areas, we do rely on each others’ input for the wider picture or in overlapping areas. The example of CAP reform above is one such area where the work on Budget Review and on CAP cannot be distinctly divided. I am looking forward to meeting our new colleague who will join us soon to lead on agriculture and macro economic issues.

Another occasion when we support each other is at events. Most recently we had the Queen’s Birthday Party at the Ambassador’s residence. This is the embassy’s largest event and our section is responsible for inviting those guests with whom we work as part of our policy agenda. Luckily, I do not get involved in the logistics of the event beyond contributing to the guest list. It is a giant exercise and the colleague responsible for co-ordination deserves all the praise for her abilities to orchestrate the complex preparations.

And of course we have times when we focus on internal matters. We held the Embassy  Away Day in June. These annual excursions are about corporate matters, team building and having fun - this year boating on the Danube and bob sleighing in Visegrád.

What I enjoyed most at work in the last three months was a tea party at the Embassy  hosted by the Ambassador and the young British volunteers of the Roof of the World Rally. These young adventurers drive to distant destinations and donate some of their vehicles and other supplies to charities in need. They are regulars at the annual Mongolia Rally and this year they are going to Tajikistan. I think this is a nice way to put the creative energies of young people into use: they help the poor and needy while fulfilling their desire for adventure by going to exotic and remote locations where other means of aid might have never made it. The volunteers said there is no better way of bringing people closer to each other than going through challenges and hardships together.  They have showed us fascinating slides of the scenery of the places they crossed last year. Their idea proves that international development is not the exclusive realm of governments and professional aid workers. Every one of us can find ways to help in some way.

Kriszti Kocsis

Policy Officer
5 August 2008