Bertelsmann building networks for new Europe

Date: 10/10/02

By Karen Carstens

ANNETTE Heuser wants to get one thing straight: she's nobody's mouthpiece.

And she's not in Brussels to host a series of big, flashy events with high-profile guest speakers who wax lyrical on the state of the Union, either.

'Sometimes people ask why we don't have so many big events,' she says, gazing out of the window of her modern office in the Résidence Palace building on Brussels' bustling Rue de la Loi.

'We have about three to four grand events per year, but that's not really what we're all about.'

Instead, the 31-year-old who runs the Bertelsmann Foundation's EU bureau strives to produce quality debate and information in the best tradition of Anglo-Saxon-style think-tanks, albeit minus any political slant.

So she favours smaller affairs, such as informal brainstorming sessions between European Union officials, rising young stars in eastern European politics, seasoned journalists and others with expertise in key policy areas.

'We have decided to focus mainly on that which is important to us,' she says, adding that although her ties to Berlin and the German political scene remain strong, the wealthy foundation can thankfully retain its independent view on the EU and represents no single party or interest group.

'Most other German think-tanks in Brussels have such ties and are often involved in large-scale projects or events.

'But this is not to say that what they do is worse or what we do is better,' she is quick to add, 'just that the approach and the focus is often somewhat different.'

The Bertelsmann Foundation, an offshoot of the massive Bertelsmann media empire based in the small western German town of Gütersloh, first opened an office in the Belgian capital two years ago.

While the company has operations spanning the globe, Brussels is the only other place the foundation has ventured.

Heuser, a political scientist who previously worked on transatlantic relations for five years in Gütersloh, says the two key EU policy areas the foundation has set its sights on are the Convention on the future of Europe and enlargement.

Her office produces a 'Convention Spotlight' newsletter in conjunction with the Munich-based Centre for Applied Policy Research.

'We know there is a lot of demand there,' Heuser says, 'because when it is published a day late or people could not get their hands on a copy, they've called us in the past and asked for it.'

Heuser, a political junkie who spent her last month-long holiday not on the beaches of Majorca but brushing up on the view from Washington in Henry Kissinger's office, is also proud of a publication put out by Bertelsmann and CAP last year called Thinking Enlarged - The Accession Countries and the Future of the European Union. A follow-up is due out soon and Heuser is looking forward to meeting many of the people who helped produce the first 50-page document later this month in Warsaw.

The reason the Bertelsmann Foundation only has one satellite office is simple: 'We prefer to establish networks all over Europe,' she says, adding that it is particularly exciting to build ties now with emerging think-tanks, universities and dynamic young policymakers in the candidate countries.

'People used to always talk about the Franco-German motor of integration,' she says. 'Why can't we find new ones now, for example a London-Budapest-Prague motor?'

Doubtless the ebullient and energetic Heuser is looking into this matter with her assistant and rotating staff of two EU legal experts as you read this.

Profile of German think tank, The Bertelsmann Foundation.

http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/index.cfm?lan=en http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/index.jsp

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