During the interview, Mr Jansen discussed the following topics:
- his educational background;
- his employment history pre-Commission (e.g.: assistant for European affairs to Hallstein at CDU Bundestag parliamentary group; responsible for the Italian representation of the Adenauer Foundation in Rome 1981-83; Secretary General of the European People’s Party and of the European Union Christian Democrats 1983-94).
- his contacts with Jacques Santer;
- his recruitment into the Cellule de Prospective, procedure, type of contract;
- his affiliation with European Federalist Movement, and impact of his working at the Cellule on his ideas;
- his work in the Cellule: contacts with churches and religious; contacts with academics and intellectuals; organisation of Carrefours de la science et de la culture;
- Cellule’s composition (names and expertise);
- Cellule’s working relations with Commission’s Presidency, President Santer, and other DGs;
- his relations with politicians of his country;
- Cellule’s relations with lobbyists and other groupings from the civil society;
- Working languages in the Cellule;
- his language skills and his favourite newspapers at that time;
- his job at EESC: recruitment; tasks; EESC working method; relations with colleague and EESC Presidents;
- his worst and best memory – i.e. trouble and then demise of the Santer Commission – and his reading of it;
- his best memories of his time at the EC: the launching of the Euro and his reading of it;
- his assessment of the influence of the Cellule’s works on other EC institutions;
- his list of colleagues that made an impression on him;
- tour d’horizon of his working relations with Commissioners of the Santer Commission.