At the beginning of her talk, Merete Bilde shared four lessons that she had learned during her time at the EEAS. First, the European Union had been confronted with religious issues for a while, but was slow in recognizing these issues. For example, she referred to negotiations with Brunei for a political and co-operation agreement that were underway when the Sultan of Brunei suddenly introduced Sharia Law in his country. Second, Bilde maintained that EU diplomats, mediators and development officers are still in catch-up mode when it comes to understanding the role that religion plays in their work, and that their predominantly secular view gives rise to blind spots. Third, she stressed that religion is more than Islam. Too often, she said, people want to talk about religion only because of Islam. Fourth, while talking about religion is currently “cool” in Brussels, not everyone understands its complexity and how to translate it into good policymaking.