On 20 March, 21 students in Royal Holloway’s Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy attended two events at the European Parliament Liaison Office of the United Kingdom at Europe House in Smith Square, Westminster.

A group of 18 people posed in front of a set of flags

The first event was a briefing on the EU’s budget given by Darren Neville, who works for the Budgets Committee of the European Parliament. The second event was for the launch of the 10^th edition of the book on the European Parliament by Darren Neville as well as his co-authors Richard Corbett and Francis Jacobs. The authors spoke about the Parliament and the immediate challenges faced by the European Union, and the session was moderated by Professor Julie Smith of the University of Cambridge. After the talks, our students were able to meet British former Members of the European Parliament and several Peers who are members of the House of Lords European Affairs Committee.

Europe House is also home to the EU’s Embassy to the United Kingdom and was formerly the headquarters of the Conservative Party during the premierships of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.