Visit of Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to the College of Europe

Outgoing Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and the Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), Mairead McGuinness, visited us earlier this week to share insights with our students about the impactful work the European Commission has carried out over the last five years.

She discussed her varied career in the media and as a Member of the European Parliament before she became Commissioner. These experiences, she told the students, prepared her to manage the many crises the EU has faced during the outgoing Commission's mandate. Her advice to our students was to do every job well, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant at the time, as you never know when that experience could help you in the future.

During the Q&A that followed,  the students had the opportunity to ask very insightful questions, which delved into some of the core challenges facing the EU today; the Russian invasion of Ukraine, declining EU competitiveness, anti-money laundering and cryptocurrency regulation, and the Green Deal.