The Presidency Challenges - The Practicalities of Chairing Council Working Parties

Target Group of the Seminar
The seminar is intended for future working party Chairs, members of the teams of chairpersons and national delegates, in particular from Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Cyprus, Ireland, Lithuania and Greece. The focus is mainly on the first Pillar. The seminar aims to contribute to an exchange of experiences and to foster connections between consecutive Presidencies.

Description
The Presidency plays a central role in managing the formulation of Council decisions. A successful Presidency depends in particular on the abilities of the working party chairmen and their teams to ensure momentum and achieve results in a complex multinational arena. This seminars looks into the strategic, logistical, procedural and practical actions required to successfully manage a Council Working Party during a Presidency.

Method
The seminar is deliberately interactive and consists of a mixture of a simulation, workshops, case studies and presentations.  It is organised around the practical aspects of preparing and chairing meetings and designing the agendas.  The objective of the seminar is to discuss and analyse the role of chairmen and national delegates, as well as the practical details involved in managing Council working parties. Moreover, it discusses the relationship between the Presidency and the Institutions, whilst providing a forum for debate on the context and preparation of the Presidency. Finally, it offers an opportunity for participants to discuss their future work with each other, with representatives from the EU Institutions and with officials who have had recent experience in chairing working parties.

Objectives
The objective of this seminar is to make sure that the Presidency teams know what is involved in leading EU negotiations from the inside. After this module, which includes a simulation exercise, the participants will know how to:

• work with the procedures for conducting meetings (as specified in the Council’s Rules of Procedure) and for decision making in the EU;
• develop scenarios for negotiations;
• use tools for reaching compromises;
• improve/refresh skills when it comes to leading meetings;
• assess their responsibility for ensuring efficient and goal-oriented meetings;
• network with the main players.

Programme
The programme will commence on the first day at 09.00 hrs and finish on the second day at 16.00 hrs.

Seminar venue
The seminar will take place at the European Institute of Public Administration, O.L. Vrouweplein 22, NL-6211 HE Maastricht, tel.: +31.43.3296222, fax: +31.43.3296296.

Working language
The seminar will be conducted in English.

Fee
The participation fee is € 1095 and includes documentation, two lunches, one dinner and refreshments. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.

EIPA offers its members a reduction of 10% of the registration fee. This reduction is available to all civil servants working for one of EIPA’s member countries (i.e. AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, ES, SE, UK).

Hotel reservations
The Institute will be pleased to make hotel reservations for you in a hotel close to EIPA in Maastricht. For the seminars on 22-23 March and 7-8 October we have made a block booking at Hotel Beaumont (www.beaumont.nl) at the rate of € 102 per person per night (including breakfast and tourist tax). Should you wish to make use of this possibility, please indicate your date of arrival and departure on the registration form. Payment is to be made directly and personally to the hotel on checking out. Please note that if you register after the closing date, hotel reservations cannot be guaranteed.

Meals
The lunches will be served at the Institute’s restaurant and dinner in the evening will be at a restaurant in town. Should you require a special menu (e.g. vegetarian, diabetic), please inform the Programme Organiser so this can be arranged.

Registration
Kindly complete the registration form and return it before 23 September 2010.
Please note that the number of participants is limited.

Payment
Prior payment is a condition for participation. Please indicate the method of payment on the registration form. In any case, the participant or his/her administration will receive an invoice for the payment of the registration fee. For cancellations received after the closing date we will have to charge an administration fee of € 150 unless a replacement participant is found.

Cancellation policy
EIPA reserves the right to cancel the seminar up to two weeks before the starting date. EIPA accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred (travel, hotel, etc.). For EIPA's cancellation policy, please visit our website www.eipa.eu (legal notice).