Merry Christmas from Belgium

[Philippe]

Dear Family,

Like every year, we have just received some news from Mom and Dad.
It is great to hear from you all and to see that you are all well.
2014 was a very busy year for us here in Belgium.
During the first semester, we had our national elections, which led to a new government. Although its politics are very sound from an economic point of view, the measures taken were not appreciated by labour unions. We were therefore confronted with social unrest for the second part of 2014, until, last week, the discussions reopened between Business representatives and Labour Unions.
For me, the first part of the year was therefore occupied with trying to get in the future government's programme, the proposals from my organization (Federation of Belgian Enterprizes), while the second part was more concerned about trying to keep these proposals in the priorities of the new government.
At the University of Louvain, where I am a part time professor, I taught European Corporate Governance, Financial Markets Regulation, and Entrepreneurship. I also coordinated a new University Certificate in Banking and Finance Law.
In attach I post a photo of our graduation ceremony in September 2014

UCL Law graduation 2014

Finally, to finish with my professional activities, I was also busy with the Brussels School of Competition, which is a one year certificate in European Competition Law, and with Cepani, which is the Belgian Center for Arbitration and Mediation, basically a private resolution center for business litigation.
Françoise was also very busy in her profession. She is now a deputy director in charge of the team of psychologists in the Students Help Centrum of the University of Louvain. She is also very busy with other projects and with our home.

Françoise

Philippe

The children are becoming more and more adults every day. Olivier has a charming girlfriend, Alix, who studied in London and is now working for an International organization in Brussels.

Olivier and Alix

Denis' girlfriend Pauline is also charming and studying Law in the same year.

Denis and Pauline

They are both very sweet girls and we like them a lot.
Olivier is in his last year at the University of Brussels to get a Master degree in Science and Management of the Environment. Denis is in his third bachelor year in Law School and Marine is a junior in High School where she studies Arts.

Marine

We had some interesting trips during the year. In France mostly but also in Turkey. It would be great to come and visit you all in the US, but it gets more and more difficult to plan family trips, now that our boys are studying at University.
We are preparing ourselves for Christmas. This afternoon, we will be celebrating in Françoise's family and on Christmas Eve, we will be having a Christmas dinner at my sister Catherine's place.
I hope that you are all well and that you do not hesitate to come by if ever you are in Belgium. We wish you all a happy and serene Christmas. Also lots of good things for 2015.

Much love,


Philippe and family