English Baroness explains EU foreign policy, connecting with students
Aside from politics, Baroness Nicholson chairs book prizes and children's charities in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and eastern Europe.
A Baroness whose family has been in English politics for six generations was one of the guest speakers at the ANU Centre for European Studies in 2015.
The Centre regularly features lecturers and visiting researchers who share their expertise about the continent, for example former senior officials for climate change and human rights experts.
In her talk, Emma Nicholson, Baroness of Winterbourne, discussed the European Union’s foreign policy challenges and drew on her experience as a politician and businesswoman.
“Bit by bit, the enlargement of the foreign policy of the European Union steadily spread,” Baroness Nicholson said after her lecture. She outlined member countries’ priorities and the Council of Europe since 1989.
“We tried to work with North Korea and began quite early with China.
“I worked in observing elections and led several delegations doing that including to Yemen and Lebanon, parts of Africa, and Georgia, Armenia and Moldova – the fringe countries of the European Union.”
A former Conservative Party vice-chairman under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Nicholson entered parliament in 1987 and has served in four settings: Britain’s Houses of Commons and Lords and in Strasbourg and Brussels as a Member of the European Parliament. In 1997 she became a House of Lords life peer.
In 2009 Baroness Nicholson became Executive Chair of the Iraq Britain Business Council and in 2014 was appointed Prime Minister David Cameron’s Trade Envoy for the United Kingdom to Iraq.
Baroness Nicholson said Britain’s planned referendum on EU membership reflects how David Cameron views the British electorate.
“He comes from a political family,” she said.
“His grandfather was my local MP where I grew up. My father was also a member of parliament, my three great-grandfathers and so on. Political families are quite strong in Britain and you have a way of thinking toward the electorate.”
Baroness Nicholson has eight honorary doctorates from universities in the United States, England and Romania, the latter for services toward European enlargement.
She enjoys speaking with students who are keen to learn “ground floor stuff” about the EU and British parliaments.
“They’ve been studying academically, they’ve good clear thinking, but they’re quite aware that there’s a real world out there that is gritty, tough, difficult and exciting,” Baroness Nicholson explained.
“They’re very keen to know what it’s really like, rather than grandstanding political statements, which like any politician I love offering,” she joked.
Baroness Nicholson recently gave a homecoming speech to 5,000 students in America, one of whom asked about her work-life balance.
“I gave a rather frank answer, because I hadn’t thought of it, I said ‘that’s a load of old rubbish. You should get on with life.’”
She also advocated making time for art and music and talking to students.
“You become so narrow-minded otherwise, if you don’t appreciate the creativity of others,” Baroness Nicholson said.
“You need to make the effort to go see and hear it.
“It’s also hugely important to share what you’ve learned. If it’s of any interest to others, you must make the effort to get round and share it.”