Maastricht, NL, 1 June 2021: Between February 2020 and May 2021, the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) implemented a large-scale training programme to prepare the Slovenian administration for the 2021 Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, on behalf of the Slovenian Academy of the Ministry of Public Administration. After an initial start with face-to-face trainings in February 2020, the trainings had to be transformed to an online format. In total, 650 Slovenian public administration officials were trained.

EIPA's role as the leading contracting partner for this project reflects its long-established reputation in presidency preparation for the EU Member States and its previous experience as a trusted partner in the preparation of Slovenia’s first rotating Presidency of the Council in 2007.

Scope of the Presidency training

Through the project, EIPA has delivered almost 3,000 participant days and more than 60 activities during three modules:

• Modules for civil servants

These modules were designed for civil servants who will be appointed as working party chairpersons, deputy chairpersons or national delegates during the Slovenian Presidency. They provided the essential knowledge to enable participants to chair working party meetings in an efficient, structured and meaningful way.

• The comprehensive chairing package

Participants acquired relevant knowledge to manage working party meetings and received advice and methodology to develop further their skills, behaviour and interpersonal relationships for successful chairing. During the training, participants practised their roles in genuine EU simulations and role-plays.

• Module for Ministers, State Secretaries, and their teams

This practice-oriented module provided ministers and their teams with the essential knowledge and practical skills that will enable them to lead EU Council Meetings effectively. The training was organised in four integrated modular sessions focusing on managing the strategic preparation, performing the duties of the presidency and the conduct of a council meeting.

Additional training requests following a positive impact assessment

The Slovenian Academy of the Ministry of Public Administration undertook thorough research on the benefits of the programme by gathering and then analysing the participants’ initial expectations, needs and their level of satisfaction after the training. In this case, the results reported seem to be extraordinarily high for this type of training.

‘This training would probably be even more effective if it were carried out live,
but it was an excellent opportunity to simulate negotiations in the current online reality.’

With requests from the Slovenian side for an increase in the number of training sessions initially planned, it is clear that not only did the Slovenian administration enjoy increased returns from this project, but they were continuously satisfied with the service provided throughout the year.