Each summer, the College of Europe welcomes to its campus in Bruges people from all over the world. From this respect, this year wasn’t any different: 200 professionals from over 40 countries, from both the public and private sector, came to Bruges to attend one (or more!) professional training courses organized by the Development Office of the College.
We had nine courses running in July: five Executive Education courses and four tailor-made ones.
The Executive Education courses were: the Intensive Seminar on the EU; Energy Union; EU Transport and Railway Affairs (ETCR); EU Competition Law; and Competition Policy and High-Tech Markets. We even had a three-day course on Monitoring and Evaluation take place just before the summer.
Through the training, participants had the opportunity to expand their knowledge on the EU and its various specific policies. Importantly, they also enhanced their professional skills through simulation games, case studies, and group work. Last but not least, the many participants were given opportunities to network and socialize among each other and with the many trainers and speakers. For this purpose, several study visits were planned within the framework of the courses, as were many evening receptions and events. A special highlight was a panel debate to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Intensive Seminar, which also brought back to Bruges alumni of the course.
As if having five courses running more or less in parallel weren't enough, we also welcomed participants from Asia and from Norway for four more training courses.
Three Summer Schools on EU Competition law were organized for Asian officials. The first one targeted Chinese officials and is the sixth Competition Summer School that the Development Office has implemented for this purpose. The two new Summer Schools, instead, targeted Japanese, Indian and South Korean officials on the one hand, and ASEAN officials on the other. Each Summer School lasted two weeks and all took place in the framework of the EU-funded project ‘EU-Asia Competition Policy Cooperation’. More information can be found here.
The fourth tailor-made course was organized for the executive students and faculty members of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), lasted four days, and focussed on the global financial crisis, the perspective of a differentiated integration within the EU, and the EU’s main responses to new security challenges, including migration.
It was a very busy summer: we took up the challenge and are very satisfied with the results, plus, the sun kept shining throughout!
We wish our former participants success in their careers, and hope to meet them again in the near future.
To be part of this professional network and keep up-to-date on our training offer, do not hesitate to join our LinkedIn group.
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