“I’m participating in that meeting in Brussels next week. Is it an expert group or a comitology committee?”
“I need to brief the boss about what to expect. Will the Commission ask her to vote?”
“How can I know where our issue is in the EU decision process, and what comes next?”
Simple questions, the answers to which may be complex, and yet can make your job easier. This course will get you up to speed on the essential elements of how the EU system works: the different powers that the EU has, who does what, and how you can have a role in shaping EU decisions. It is concise but thorough, and focusses in detail on EU law-making.
To get maximum benefits out of this course, irrespective of your level of knowledge on EU decision-making, we have included a preliminary online module that introduces the foundations of decision-making in the EU.
What will you learn:
- The legal bases for what the EU can and cannot do
- The main ways in which decisions are taken
- The different powers that Member States have given to the EU
- The differences between legislative acts, implementing acts (the world of ‘comitology’!) and the new delegated acts, relating them to their place in the EU policy cycle, as well as in the hierarchy of laws.
- The decision-making procedures within the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, and the ways in which national officials and other stakeholders fit into the policy process.
- The ordinary legislative procedure and how a ‘trilogue’ works.
- Delegated and implementing acts using topical cases (including the well-known ‘glyphosate’ saga).
Course methodology/highlights:
In this course, there is plenty of time and opportunity for exercises and discussions. Sufficient breaks and pauses have been included to ensure an effective course.
We believe learning happens best with practical knowledge. So this course includes:
- Extensive insights with multiple examples and real life cases
- Group exercises
- Role plays and simulation games
- Inputs from experienced EU practitioners as the basis for discussion among participants about the practical demands of participation in the various stages of EU decision-making.
For this course we offer two other options for which you can register:
If you are confident of all the basics, and do not feel that you need any further training on it, you can register only for the Main Course (22-24 March).
If you only want to refresh your knowledge you can register for the online Preliminary Module (16 March).
Learn more here.
