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Eurobrussels - How Brussels Became the EU Capital

2024-10-26

Philippe Van Parijs, one of the first authors to have written about basic income, also happens to be one of the few sources on why the EU institutions are all based in Brussels.
Apparently, back in the day, when the EU was still something which was part of the realm of international relations, the powers at be decided in alphabetical order.

From that random choice, Brussels has been a center of EU policy, sustainable finance, and law firms. Although Vienna was once considered the city of spies, now Brussels, with its international relations importance and centrality to European affairs, is officially the city of spies.

In fact, just recently, one of the biggest joint policy arrests was made in Gallerie Royal. A Chinese spy was trying to buy trade secrets from a research assistant to a transport company.

What attracts all these young people to the "Euro Brussels"?

I'd say it's the "euro" part in the "Euro Brussels." In fact, compared to other vacancies, jobs in the European Union (as in European Commission, the surrounding international organizations, and public affairs jobs as a whole) pay much better than the European Union average.

If one looks at the many EU law-centered job board(s), one will see that not only are the vacancies well paid, but the digital real estate they are on is very expensive. One vacancy posting can cost anywhere from 100 to 2000 euros—especially if they are jobs in international organizations, communications, or other policy areas.

A second element, which adds to the fascination young people have for Euro Brussels is the international relations angle and the feeling one gets that they are doing something meaningful while working. In fact, even internships at the European Union institutions can be a very competitive environment—especially if it's a prestigious Schuman or Blue Book (vacancies that have more competition than internships at international organizations such as NATO or the UN).

A job board in Brussels is a very profitable business because filling all the vacancies is very difficult!