The future of Europe - Macron vs. Lindner

This week, Emmanuel Macron threw down the gauntlet for his vision of a stronger, more federal European Union. But his bold words were tempered by the election result in Germany two days earlier. And just a few days later, violence in Catalonia further undermined his vision of European unity.

Beach office

I'm moderating some conferences in Barcelona this week, and taking the opportunity to do some work on the beach.

My life will now be divided into 'Brussels weeks' and 'Berlin weeks'. It's a bit like the European Parliament's Strasbourg and Brussels weeks, I've even made a color-coded calendar to show where I am, when. Red is for Berlin, Blue is for Brussels, and Green is somewhere else.

This week is a Green week. I'm in Barcelona to moderate at some conferences about ecommerce. After two days of moderating, I've set myself up on the beach today with a little impromptu office. Not a bad view, I must say.

As I begin my freelancing adventure, I'm going to keep trying to find creative workplaces like this. Part of it is just a joke, to make my friends mad. But actually I find I'm getting quite a lo of work done in these unconventional locations. Last week I did some work in the royal forest in Laeken and I got much more done than I would have gotten at home (or in the Parliament's press room, where I've tended to set up shop).

So, here's to freelancing!