Christiane Barth actually wanted to become a journalist. She studied political science and English in Mannheim, worked for the Allgemeine Zeitung, and interned at the Süddeutsche Zeitung and ZDF. But during an internship with MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, she was gripped by enthusiasm. „Brussels is a very young, international and dynamic environment,“ Barth says. „It didn’t let me go.“ Others in the European Parliament studied European politics in Maastricht or Bruges. For her Master’s, she therefore chose Maastricht.