Simple Production

The world is changing and Europe is in a state of crisis.

At the top of it, José Manuel Barroso, The President of the European Commission.

He has one of the most difficult jobs in the world today : managing a government with 25 Commissioners from 25 different countries. Mission Impossible?

In 2005, both the French and Dutch said NO to the project of a European Constitution, and the 25 member states appeared to be incapable of agreeing on a budget for Europe. Moreover other problematic issues were added to the list : the Bolkestein Directive, the conflict over Chinese textiles, and the Hewlett Packard affair.

And yet, one by one, José Manuel Barroso stepped around the obstacles, and sought out solutions that would allow Europe to evolve. 

"The Most difficult Job in the World" shows us the inside view of the people and processes involved in the daily political task of constructing the "Europe" steamboat.

Credits

• Director : Sergio Ghizzardi
• Photography : Hugues Bataille / Michel Baudour / Désiré Berckmans / Pablo Berckmans / Gil Decamp, Didier Degen / François Ducobu / Christophe Gascard, Vincent Hufty/ Ivan Keller / Luc Malice/ Alain Marcoen / Marc Ridley / Sébastien Tran / Bernard Vervoort / Jean-Marc Vervoort
• Sound Engineers : Cosmas Antoniadis / Philippe Benoît / Christophe Blitz/ Eric Chabot / Manu Corazzini, Thierry de Halleux / Bruno Diliberto / Frédéric Fontaine / Fréderic Joblin / Mandla Mlambo, Lionel Petit / Alain Sironval / Richard Verthé / Philippe Vuarnesson
• Editing : Anne-Laure Guégan
• Sound editing : Valène Leroy
• Music : Kris Defoort
• Mixing : João Pedro Ellas
• Voice : Jean-Michel Vovk (French)

Production and Partners

• Production : Simple Production, Domino Production, Lieurac Productions and Nanook
• Coproduction : Arte Fance, RTBF, VRT,RTE (Irl), SVT 1(Suède), YLE 1(Fin), RTP, Acheloos TV (Greece)
• Partners : MEDIA Program (EU), het Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, Centre National de la Cinématographie (France), « Le Soir» (Tax Shelter) and the technical support of the European Community.

TV Broadcast

• YLE (14/2/07), VRT (18/03/2007), Arte (21/03/07),Arte Fance, RTBF, RTE, SVT 1, VRT, YLE 1, RTP, Acheloos TV,Phoenix (All), ORF(Aut),…

Distribution :

• Arte France

Languages available

• 90 minutes, original version with subtitles in French - German
• 52 minutes, original version with subtitles in French - Dutch - English