I specialize in Labor and Social Policy in my Master's in European Studies at Ď㽶ĘÓƵ, and in this regard, I am particularly interested in the impact of new technologies on society. More specifically, I aim to examine the impact of AI on the European labor market in my master’s thesis. Here, I focus on the socio-economic consequences for “low-skilled workers” resulting from AI-induced job upheavals. In this context, getting to know how a European institution tackles such significant changes is equally relevant for my work. For this, an internship at the European Representation of the German Federal Employment Agency (“ERGFEA”) in Brussels was the ideal opportunity.
The ERGFEA in Brussels provides direct contact to all relevant European institutions and works as a link between the European Commission and the political interests of the Federal Employment Agency. Its main task is to consult and to participate in the decision-making process of the European Commission’s General Directorates and the European Parliament’s Committees in cases concerning the interests of the Federal Employment Agency. Thus, when applying for an internship at the ERGFEA, I primarily wished to gain a direct insight into EU-level labor market policy and thereby learn more about new challenges such as demographic change, platform work, or green jobs. In addition, my goal was to meet interesting people at events that could benefit me in my professional life after graduation.
As an intern at the ERGFEA, I had two main tasks. First, I had to summarize labor market policy developments at the EU level in the form of policy briefings for my colleagues as well as for board members who went on business trips to Brussels. Second, I had the privilege to participate in numerous events as a representative of the ERGFEA, both online and on-site. This was also my favorite task during my internship and included meetings at the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs as well as seminars held by research institutes, such as on the topic of digitization and the labor market. For me, these kinds of events were the ideal place to network, i.e., to get to know people and institutions here in Brussels where I could imagine working after my master’s degree. In this context, I particularly noticed my personal development since my first internship in Brussels in 2018. Here, I also participated in numerous events, but kept myself rather in the background, especially in the networking breaks. This time, I was much more open and actively approached people I found interesting and didn’t shy away from presenting myself as a potential candidate for a future job.
While attending these events was very helpful for my future career, the tasks I was assigned during the events themselves were unfortunately somewhat underwhelming. For every event I attended, I had to prepare a protocol afterwards based on my notes. This left me little time to actively participate in workshops or ask questions to panelists. I was also instructed not to actively engage in discussions expressing my own opinion because it might contradict my institution’s position. I found this “neutrality” particularly difficult when compared to the open discussion environment in academia that I usually find myself in.
My biggest challenge that arose during internship was hence be to come to terms with this kind of “censorship”. Even though it was quite easy to live with for my short internship period, it certainly did raise questions for my future career. The most important of these is definitely: do I want to work for a European institution, where I will not be able to express my own opinion freely in certain contexts, or should I rather do a PhD and enjoy the great benefits of academic liberty? It is precisely this great and difficult question that I will try to answer in my last year at McGill through conversations with professors who themselves worked for an international organization before their time in academia.
Finally, I would like to thank my donor David Roland and the Roland Arts Summer Internship Award, without which the completion of my internship in Brussels would have never been possible. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to gain a unique insight into the mechanisms of European decision-making in the labor market field. This experience will strongly shape my professional and personal path. It has helped to further provide me with the necessary tools, both theoretical and practical, to become an influential agent of change and social equality.
Formalities: I will receive 3 credits from the Political Science Department for this internship, which will be credited to me under the course “POLI 599: Internship”. The topic of my research paper is “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the European Labor Market: A Comparison of Two Policy Instruments” and will be supervised by Prof. Daniel Béland.
