From Aschaffenburg to Europe, the World and back Home

An accomplished guest lecture was held on wednesday by Matthias Reusing, Policy Advisor for Agriculture, Environment and Digital Transformation from the Delegation of the European union (EU) to the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa to students of the Master’s programme International Management. The session was entitled “From Aschaffenburg to Europe, the World and back Home: A Journey through European Policies and International Partnerships” and provided students with a comprehensive understanding of EU’s global role and international partnerships and provided practical insights into the work of EU Delegations around the world.

The lecture commenced with an overview of the EU’s institutional framework, decision-making processes, and the benefits the EU provides to its citizens. The focus was on how the EU actually works with the two co-legislating institutions, the Council (representing all member states of the EU) and European Parliament (representing the citizens of the EU). Matthias Reusing presented key responsibilities of the European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU. These include proposing new laws and priorities, implementing policies and budgets for EU programmes such as for Erasmus+ or Horizon Europe in the area of education and research, acting as guardian of the EU treaties and representing the EU with its 27 member states internationally. One central theme of the lecture was the global role of the EU in challenging times, such as international trade, external relations, and diplomacy and security.

EU official guest speaker Matthias Reusing has local roots in the surroundings of Aschaffenburg and graduated with a MSc in Geography from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, before embarking on several international assignments and then joining the European Commission and later on the European External Action Service (EEAS), the international representation of the EU. Regarding his current assignment at the EU Delegation to the AU, the speaker shared examples of how the EU seeks to engage and contribute with partners in Africa to promote EU-African Union relations in the area of trade and governance, but also addressing common challenges in partnerships such as innovation and sustainability.

The second part of the talk highlighted the sharing of personal career steps and mile stones abroad, such as working as EU official for EU Delegations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Matthias Reusing shared very concrete examples of his work, such as working on green partnerships and sustainable recovery with partner country representatives and illustrated an impressive broad range of concrete projects and collaborations with stakeholders in the respective countries, with which the EU has international partnerships.

In a Q & A session students had the opportunity to engage with the speaker on key topics, such as who holds the ultimate responsibility of decision making in the EU in challenging times, such, but also on what are competences and skills required for young professionals interested in international career paths, such as working for the EU institutions. Matthias Reusing emphasized that an open mind, respect and tolerance as key ingredients of success for an international career and for a peaceful world.

The guest lecture by Matthias Reusing was organized by Prof. Angress TH Aschaffenburg and is a follow-up on the conference organized by DAAD as Erasmus+ Networking Forum on EU Higher Education Cooperation she had been invited to. Thanks to Dieter Schornick, former chairman of Europa Union e.V. Aschaffenburg, contact had been facilitated to Matthias Reusing in the framework of the EU’s “Back to School/University” programme.