Thinking laterally
Representing the entire social sector across the European Union and maintaining connections across policy areas obliges Pierre Baussand to stay focused.
With the ambition to represent the whole social sector at European Union level, the 46-member Social Platform covers a dizzying range of interests. For its director, Pierre Baussand, the key to success is making sense of cacophony. “When I work for the Platform, I have 46 little people in my brain telling me what is important on each topic,” he says. “That requires social skills and human relationships. You can't have 46 people in your head without knowing them.”
Baussand's principal task is to find common ground between the broad policy themes of the EU institutions and the specific interests of the Social Platform member organisations. “My role is always to find this place where both can talk.”
That means thinking laterally. For example, youth unemployment is a central issue for one platform member, the European Youth Forum. But it is also relevant to others, dealing with issues such as youth identities, education, social exclusion and access to employment. “We have different kinds of families, each with a specific focus,” says Baussand
His personal motivation goes all the way back to his university days. Born in France, he studied journalism in Tours then international relations at Sciences Po in Lyon, which he combined with a second degree, in Arab studies. The programme included a period visiting Georgetown University in Washington DC, where he followed an inspirational course on the civil rights struggle. “I became very passionate about what has happened since the Civil War in the US and I started to read and read.”
During his military service at the French embassy in Jordan, Baussand's reading bore practical fruit. Struck by the plight of migrant workers in menial jobs, he carried out a research project on the legal constraints that segregated them from the rest of Jordanian society. “This was an important experience because my values were being applied in a concrete way,” he says. But something was lacking.
“Research is fine, and I was happy to do it, but I changed nothing.”
Ambition
That desire for more tangible achievement led him away from academia to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, first covering elections in Kosovo, then as a human rights officer in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This experience of consensus-building continues to inform his work.
He came to Brussels for family reasons, working first for the European Disability Forum, before moving to the Social Platform in 2006, initially handling equality issues. He became its director in 2011.
Member organisations are already working at EU level, and seek something extra from the platform.
“They are looking for an area where they can have solidarity among themselves and work together to address structural policies such as employment and social inclusion, to have an added value for their specific work,” says Baussand.
In the broadest policy areas, specific experience may carry considerable weight. For example, in a discussion with the Commission about public procurement, the Platform was able to highlight the long-term cost-effectiveness of support for immediate housing over providing temporary shelters for the homeless.
“The whole notion of cost, which is paramount to any commissioner in charge of the internal market, was questioned,” Baussand says.
After so much moving, he now seems settled. “I see myself here in 10-15 years' time,” he says.
“What you learn about human beings, how you negotiate and discuss with your members enriches you and makes your personality grow. That's something you don't want to quit.”
