Academy

European affairs

Your turn in the EU presidency
Bron: Wikimedia Commons
Training type
Tailor-made
Training category
European affairs

Clingendael Academy supports public administrations of EU Member States for their turn in the Rotating Presidency of the EU.

Every six months the presidency of the EU rotates. Every six months, hundreds of civil servants from the EU Members States will be in a role and position they most likely have never had before. Your turn comes once every thirteen and a half years. At that moment you take the responsibility of finding agreements and managing the legislation decision-making process. And the question is: are you ready?

The presidency is a truly unique responsibility. It requires:

  • A full and deep understanding of the policy cycle of the European Commission;
  • Negotiation and mediation skills to steer contentious legislation through council meetings;
  • Confident and experienced civil servants to face the politicians of the European Parliament in direct confrontation if agreement cannot be reached early in the process;
  • A full understanding of the rules and procedures of the meetings;
  • A sufficient support system both in Brussels and in capital;
  • A full understanding of the working culture in Brussels.

At Clingendael Academy we have built experience in supporting Member States in their preparations for their turn in the rotating presidency seat. Through the years we conducted training in the UK, the Netherlands (three times), Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and we have recently started with a training project for Bulgaria.