The College of Europe's Bruges campus was a hub of activity this July – a month during which over 150 people came to be trained in EU affairs and specific policy fields. The College of Europe Development Office, in fact, regularly offers executive education courses and prepares programmes upon request.
The first course to start was the 22nd edition of the three-week course "Intensive Seminar on the EU". The participants began the course on 29 June and were given an introduction to the EU, its history and main institutional set-up. This was complemented with a visit to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EEAS in Brussels. On 6 July the participants of the two-week and one-week courses arrived. In addition to set sessions, all participants were given the opportunity to tailor the course to their needs by choosing between several elective sessions – which included skill-development sessions and sessions in French.
Another long-established course, which also started on 29 June, was the EU Transport and Railway Affairs (ETCR) programme. This programme gave participants an overview of the different transport policies and looked into issues relating to customers, trade unions, competition policy and international law. The participants also went on two day trips: one to the European institutions in Brussels and one to the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.
The third course starting on 29 June was the two-week Competition Summer School for Chinese Officials, part of the EU funded project “EU-China Trade Project”. Over 30 officials took part in this course which started with a general overview of EU competition policy and then delved more in depth into the specificities involved, such as anti-trust procedure, mergers and acquisitions, state aid and article 101 (horizontal and vertical restraints). As part of the programme, the Chinese officials also visited DG Competition in Brussels.
Also on EU Competition was a one-week course which is part of the College of Europe executive education catalogue and took place from 6 to 10 July. This was an advanced course on EU competition law targeting professionals in the field. The participants were given a short introduction to competition policy and the fundamentals of EU competition law and then they were exposed to specific aspects such as articles 101 and 102, economics of competition law and state aid policy.
Within the framework of the EU grant contract “support to civil service EU trainings and establishment of a Centre of Excellence in EU matters in Azerbaijan”, the College organized a three-day course, “Innovation in higher education”, for a small group of academics from ADA University. The course allowed them to explore and discuss the most recent developments in terms of educational strategies and how to respond to new challenges in this field.
Last but not least, from 13 to 24 July, over 20 officials from various Taiwanese ministries attended a course on climate change issues. The two-week training included study visits to the Netherlands and Brussels and covered specific topics such as the physics behind climate change, the EU regulatory framework, renewables, energy, climate and development.
With all these courses running in parallel, there were also numerous opportunities for participants to expand their professional and personal network. Do join us next year for high-level training, interesting connections and beautiful surroundings!