Fashion or Necessity? EU Agencies in between EU Institutions and Member States

Target Group:
The seminar is aimed at officials and experts from Member States and from EU institutions working with or at EU agencies. Experts from NGOs and law firms are also welcome to participate. Throughout the seminar there will be ample room for discussion.

Description:
This seminar will provide an overview of issues related to (the establishment of) EU agencies. In many areas discussions are going on about creating or (re-)forming EU agencies. Where EU agencies – or agency-type structures – already exist, there are often debates on whether more or less “centralisation” is needed and whether their tasks should be enlarged. Those involved in (re-) negotiations about an EU agency face a range of thorny questions related to political supervision, limits of independence, the role of national authorities, network organisation, the extent of the centralisation of tasks, etc. The seminar will address some of the most pressing issues related to agencies and will cover, among other things, the reasons for creating EU agencies, the advantages of agencies, design issues (regarding efficiency and control), differences between agencies, and the difference between an EU agency and more network-type arrangements. Moreover, we will review practical experience that may be relevant for other policy fields.

Method:
The seminar will be organised around presentations by leading experts, workshops to gather experiences of participants, and panel discussions. This approach will offer the possibility to discuss the latest trends and will enable experts and officials involved in different kinds of agency structures to exchange views.

Objective:
The objective of our activities on EU agencies is to provide a forum for national officials, EU officials and representatives of EU agencies to discuss the operations of EU agencies and agency-type structures. We will discuss the added value of EU agencies, explore trends in their design and discuss experiences gained with this new EU policy-making instrument.

Organisation:
The seminar is part of a series of activities that EIPA organises on EU agencies together with the Law Faculty of the University of Maastricht.

Venue
The conference will take place in the Bordeaux conference room (1.16) at the European Institute of Public Administration,O.L. Vrouweplein 22, NL–6211 HE Maastricht, tel.: +31 43 3296 222, fax: +31 43 3296 296.

Language
The conference will be conducted in English.  

Conference Fee
The participation fee is € 900 and includes documentation, 2 lunches, 1 dinner and refreshments. Accommodation and travel costs are at the expense of the participants or their administration.

Hotel
The European Institute of Public Administration will be pleased to make reservations (at a special rate) for you at an hotel in Maastricht. We have made a block booking at hotel Beaumont**** (www.beaumont.nl), at a rate of ca. € 99,77 p.p.p.n., incl. breakfast and tourist tax. Should you wish to make use of this possibility, please indicate the dates 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
Lunches will take place at the Institute’s restaurant. Dinner on Thursday evening will take place at a restaurant in town. Should you require a special menu (e.g. vegetarian, diabetic), please inform the Programme Organiser so that this can be arranged.

Registration
Kindly complete the registration form and return it before the closing date of 26 January 2010

Confirmation
Confirmation of registration will be forwarded to participants on receipt of the completed registration form.

Payment

Prior payment is a condition for participation. Please indicate the method of payment on the registration form. For cancellations received after the closing date indicated on the registration form we will have to charge an administration fee of € 150 unless a replacement participant is found.