Dear friends, happy to share with you some thoughts and news about my life as usual at this time of year: news from Olivier! Let’s stay positive! Trump’s victory should give us the opportunity to strengthen ourselves as Europeans and continue to live our story of a free, democratic and inclusive Europe. Ah, but you’re…
I am just back from a fortnight in our paradise in the Dordogne ! It was great, as always, but could have been a bit warmer and drier the first week. Thinking back 12 years to March 24 2012 when Barbara and I got married in Brussels we were incredibly lucky with the weather, it was…
Dear friends, Here I am again with some news for you. After the removal of my prostate gland in January which went well the year continued in a more settled way with my birthday on February 7, 66 years now, and the arrival of spring. But the end of COVID sadly was not sufficient…
Dear friends,Here we go again with the latest from Olivier! Let’s start with some bad news, namely the situation of NewB (www.newb.coop) which failed to collect enough capital to pursue their banking activity. We are very sad; we shall know soon whether the cooperative will be maintained for non banking purposes or has to be…
Dear friends, We are back after two months in our paradise in the Dordogne. For me it was a first in 25 years, two full months!! We had visits from several friends who shared the hot weather and the delight of living together in a group with us. Two sorts of liquids, water in the…
Dear friends, I hope you are all as well as possible in these difficult times! We all hope that life will rapidly become easier and more bearable. Meanwhile we notice how the pandemic has begun to alter the attitudes and choices of people. One of the changes we see is a clear trend, everywhere in…
Time flies … SIREAS will be 60 next year, ATEB (Association of corporate treasurers in Belgium) which I started with several friends in 1991 is now 30, EMMI was founded in 1999 which makes it 22 years old, microStart just celebrated its 10 years and NewB was created in 2011, as was Alumni Europae, so…
Hello everyone! There is this definite feel of holidays all around; that’s great because it translates into being able to travel and meet up with family and friends again !!! For us it means returning to our house in the Dordogne where we haven’t been since the end of last summer. This summer family and friends…
Dear friends, First of all, I hope that all of you are as well as possible in this disrupted world. I am more than ever aware of how privileged I am, with a large and beautiful appartment including a terrace, a small park just in front, a little supermarket around the corner and a…
Summer 2020 ….an exceptional period for most of us. We lost many people due to Covid-19; elderly people and others who were vulnerable because of underlying health conditions, their precarious social situation or because they were frontline workers. After several months of trial and error we are beginning to understand what needs to be done…