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| Petr Novak |
Why did you decide to stand for a position at the Stage Committee? Did you have any special intentions or maybe some expectations?
I remember Siavash, former member of the Liaison committee, sending us an E-mail and threatening we - new staigaires - won' t be able to organize any leisure activities as there isn't sufficient number of candidates for the Committee just one day before elections. I thought: you can' t let this happen. Well, of course we came here to work and to gain precious experience but we would loose our mind without any relaxation, at least I would. But seriously, while holding a speech when standing for the elections I've already mentioned that I consider myself as ''zoon politikon'' - this is one of the very few Latin expressions I know, in other words I still do like people and I still do like to be among them. I want to contribute to a bride side of our lives. One of the ways how to achieve it is to give the people an opportunity to meet with other colleagues and friends out of the office. Additionally, I have some previous experience with event organization, you can ask my friends for that.
You are in charge of all Stage Committee events. What are the main plans of the Stage Committee regarding events? Do you have some special surprises you can disclose to ESJ readers only?
I am convinced we've prepared really a rich and interesting program for you. We tried to find the right balance between fun and glance, as parties shouldn't be our only relax or interest. Let me summarize the upcoming events:
On top of what was mentioned above we support any interesting idea regarding conferences or similar events, so there might be even more surprises still coming up. This program can be obviously slightly changed as regarding dates or venues.
What about the Stage Committee team, so far, what is your impression on them and how do you see your cooperation?
Deborah, Michael, Chris and Lothar, my team. It is a bit like with a family – these are people I didn't choose (and they didn't choose me either) but we have to coexist and cooperate. We do fight sometimes, we hate each other for a while but at the end of the day, everything is fine - I like them somehow :-)
Let's turn to your personal attachment to the European Commission. What were the main reasons for you to apply for a traineeship? And so far, how do you like it?
Although I am coming from Czech Republic, famous for its euro-skeptical head of the state, Václav Klaus, I consider myself as a European. I fully supported the idea of a united Europe and I always truly believed in Europe as a federation of its many nations. With that in mind, foreign cultures and foreign languages were always of high importance to me. Already in early age I started to study German language and after I continued with English and French. I am now starting with Spanish, let’s hope I’m not too old for that.
However, I had way more intensive contact with EU law while firstly studying and latter working for one year in the Czech competition authority. That experience brought me to Europa-Institut where I truly felt working and living in an international environment and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. At that point I was missing the last step – the possibility to gain practical experience inside of the very engine of the integration. And I have to admit I wished to have the indescribable feeling when working in multicultural environment again.
I believe whole Stage committee has some expectations of your future work for trainees as a group. But we all look at Stage Committee not for individuals but according to its performance at trips or events. What are your expectations from the new Stage Committee?
I don't know, if we will be the best as you can hardly please everyone even though it would have been nice, but I can assure you, we will try hard to be! How? We take our tasks seriously, we are very committed to what we do and despite the fact that we are all amateurs we try to be professionals in any occasion. I really think we are here for staigaires, ready to help with any kind of issue, willing to offer wide choice of activities and trying to take the outmost of stagaires' opinions. And those, for me personally, are the most important facts!
