In this life you have to be flexible.
In the Apprentice on Wednesday, the contestants had to design a robot so that it could interract in today's world, and then sell it to interested parties. As expected, the egotistical youngsters were so focused on themselves and arguing with each other that they missed the main picture.
On Thursday Theresa May arrived at the EU summit in Brussels, following a press conference with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker. She was armed with precise instructions from her Cabinet and focused on one aim: what was best for Britain. In turn Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker arrived with precise, voted-on, instructions from the council comprising all the other EU countries. In business, politics and in life flexibility is required. In critical negotiations always give the negotiator carte blanche to make individual decisions. At such times you cannot be robotic: you must have the power to duck and dive, bend and move at will, not hampered by pre-instructions. In Brussels neither side had this flexibility. What would Alan Sugar have predicted? Stalemate.
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
30th December 2012
The new year 13 is nigh. Hope, despite its number, it's a lucky one. We should all take a moment to reflect on how our lives are going, and I can't think of a better time than when one year ends and a new one dawns. Is there anything we can learn from our mistakes and do better?
For us, living in France is still an uphill climb - but we're learning. And slowly, slowly the EU seems to be recognising that there're a lot of expats living in France who need a helping hand. Whether it's restrictive French inheritance laws, completing onerous tax returns each April or health rules - gradually the French (with a nudge from Brussels) are easing their 'living in the box' mentality to recognise the needs of expats.
Last April expats in France got a boost from their language struggles by reading that being bilingual helps your brain and even wards off Alzheimer's. There was even a lovely story where a British woman is helping French dementia sufferers by taking her two dogs into a care home in Nice. One male sufferer, who can no longer speak, laughs out loud when the dog licks his face. I know - you're gonna say this is unhealthy. But sometimes, anything that reaches deep within a person's soul and gives us a reason to carry on living can only be a good thing in my book. Him indoors joins me in wishing you all a very happy, healthy and loving New Year - wherever you live. Keep smiling. :)
For us, living in France is still an uphill climb - but we're learning. And slowly, slowly the EU seems to be recognising that there're a lot of expats living in France who need a helping hand. Whether it's restrictive French inheritance laws, completing onerous tax returns each April or health rules - gradually the French (with a nudge from Brussels) are easing their 'living in the box' mentality to recognise the needs of expats.
Last April expats in France got a boost from their language struggles by reading that being bilingual helps your brain and even wards off Alzheimer's. There was even a lovely story where a British woman is helping French dementia sufferers by taking her two dogs into a care home in Nice. One male sufferer, who can no longer speak, laughs out loud when the dog licks his face. I know - you're gonna say this is unhealthy. But sometimes, anything that reaches deep within a person's soul and gives us a reason to carry on living can only be a good thing in my book. Him indoors joins me in wishing you all a very happy, healthy and loving New Year - wherever you live. Keep smiling. :)
24th September 2008
They say that a new broom sweeps clean. It's that Nicolas Sarkozy again. He seems to be everywhere. He currently chairs the EU commission in Brussels and has presided over a brand-new innovation: the Blue Card. This will lure qualified workers to plug the EU skills gap. The visas, coloured blue to match the EU flag, are intended to rival the American Green Card by offering permanent residency anywhere in Europe after five years’ work. The card will be targeted at qualified migrants and Sarkozy believes that it will change the image of Europe as a destination mainly for unskilled immigrants. Migrants will also be allowed to move to any other EU country if they find a new job there after two years of residence in the sponsoring country. That won't please Britain's overcrowded island which likes to pick and choose which EU directives it wants to keep. Either it's a member of the EU or it isn't. But, the big problem with this Blue Card thing, as with the EU as a whole, is the multitude of languages. You've seen how me and him indoors have coped with dealing with a new language. I wish someone would wave a magic language wand over the EU and impose one language across all states, like in the US after the War of Independence. My late father used to say that German was very nearly chosen there as the common language! Perhaps one of my American readers can tell me whether that was actually the case, and how the new USA managed to get everyone speaking the same language all those years ago. I can't even get him indoors and me to speak the same language, never mind all the rest! Once I hear from you, I'll pop over to Nicolas's place and let him know.
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