Development Office Newsletter: Issue N°2 2010

Online survey: participate and win!

Your feedback is important for us. To help us to better tailor our services to your needs, please fill in the questionnaire below – it will only take you a few minutes! Your participation will be rewarded: Every 50th participant wins a 5% reduction of the full registration fee for one of our 2010 training activities. The deadline for taking the survey is 30 April 2010.

Hot topics to be discussed at the 17th Intensive Seminar on the EU

This year’s ‘Intensive Seminar on the EU’ taking place in Bruges and Brussels between 28 June and 16 July will have a focus on current developments at EU level. In addition to the lectures on EU policies, visits to the EU institutions in Brussels and hands-on workshops and exercises, there will be panel debates on ‘hot topics’.
Representatives from the EU institutions, think tanks, universities, NGOs and the media will discuss about the Lisbon Treaty, the new EU diplomacy and Europe’s role in the global climate policy. Following the interactive approach of the seminar, the audience will have the chance to actively participate in the debates.
The Intensive Seminar is the Development Office’s flagship training programme. It is targeted at professionals who want to gain an insight into the EU institutions and decision-making processes. Participants choose from one, two or three-week programmes to benefit from practice-oriented sessions, social activities and exclusive networking experiences in a truly European environment.
Until 23 April, we offer a 10% reduction on the registration fee! Other discounts are available for groups, former participants and College of Europe Alumni.
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High-level training course for the European External Action Service

The Development Office is planning to organise an advanced training for the new European External Action Service (EEAS) scheduled to take place at its Bruges campus in the summer.
The one-week programme is targeted at national diplomats and EU officials from the Commission and Council Secretariat. It includes among others plenary sessions on the EEAS, the EU’s foreign and development policies as well as workshops covering practical aspects like diplomatic protocol, interinstitutional cooperation, negotiation skills or political reporting. Partners of the College of Europe are invited to support the pilot project.
More information will be available soon on our website.

Practical insights into the European Customs Union

From 3 to 12 May, the Development Office will organise a tailor-made training in Spanish for 20 professionals from SIECA, the Secretariat of Economic Integration of Central America.
During lectures and practical workshops at the College of Europe Bruges, the delegates will learn more about how customs work in the EU as well as the European customs union, integration, institutions, internal market and the European-Latin American relations. In addition, field trips to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, Brussels airport and the Belgian and Dutch customs authorities will allow them to gain a first-hand inside into electronic customs and the systems for the reception, control and distribution of goods. The programme also foresees a visit of the European Commission in Brussels where the participants will meet the Director for Latin America of DG External Relations and other officials.
In 2007, the Development Office had organised a similar programme for SIECA with which it holds a long-term cooperation partnership in training Centralamerican public administration officials in the field of taxation and customs. 
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