Lousewies thrown in at the deep end

Date: 13/03/1997

The latest addition to the porte parole, Lousewies van der Laan, staggered out of the Commission press room after her very first appearance at the daily briefing wondering what she had let herself in for.

It had not been, she was reassured, a typical day.

The 31-year-old, who has taken over from Nico Wegter as spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek, had to deal with a string of in-depth questions about the EU's response to the crisis in Albania only hours after starting her new job.

“That's what we call being thrown in at the deep end,” commented chief spokesman Klaus van der Pas.

By the end of her first day, Van Der Laan had popped up on radio and television programmes across Europe, delivering the Commission's measured response to events in Albania. The media exposure was probably more than she would have had by now if she had succeeded in her attempt to become a Euro MP in 1994 .