From July until the end of December 2021, Slovenia held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Administrative Academy prepared the Training Programme for the Needs of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council in 2021.
The purpose of the training was to improve the knowledge and skills of public employees needed for a successful presidency and to improve their professional competence in the long term.
The training courses were organised by three main areas covering EU topics (familiarisation with EU institutions and decision-making processes, programme of the Slovenian Presidency), special skills for the Presidency (management of meetings, communication, protocol, etc.), and foreign languages (English and French):
- EU TOPICS
- SKILLS AND LANGUAGE
- SKILLS
The training took the form of short seminars and workshops (over 1–3 days) and short language courses carried out in person (in Ljubljana and Brussels) and remotely (via Zoom and MS Teams). They were delivered by foreign contractors, Slovenian contractors (skills training), Slovenian public employees with experience in EU institutions’ working bodies and committees or in the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovenia to the EU in Brussels, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Protocol of the Republic of Slovenia and the Communication Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, and representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council, European Parliament and European Commission.
Interactive learning methods were used, with an emphasis on simulated practical examples and the active role of participants. The training was mostly held in English and Slovenian and partly in French.
The training process was severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and the related constraints. Most of the training, as much as 72%, was therefore delivered remotely.