European Negotiations III - Managing Negotiations with the European Parliament under Lisbon, Brussels

Atomium in Brussel
© Kevin Bergenhenegouwen
date May 19, 2010 - May 20, 2010
city Brussels, Belgium
organisation European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) i

The Programme on European Negotiations (PEN) is an initiative aiming to streamline and unite EIPA’s actions of learning, development, coaching and research on the negotiation processes involving national and European officials within the EU governance system. The PEN aims to bring negotiation theory to EU decision-making processes, rationality and pragmatism to intuitive negotiation skills, shared best practices to individual negotiation experiences, and research to European negotiations as a whole. Open training activities of PEN consist of four complementary seminars to enhance EU negotiation skills: Representation and Negotiation in the Council of the EU (I); Interpersonal and Intercultural Dimensions of European negotiations (II); Managing Negotiations with the European Parliament under Lisbon (III); and the Presidency Challenges (IV).

Target Group of the Seminar

The seminar will be directly relevant for all national and EU officials who have to negotiate with the European Parliament. In particular future chairpersons and team members of forthcoming EU Presidencies, case handlers based in national capitals, representatives of Council Preparatory bodies, attaché(e)s and counsellors from Permanent Representations and officials from other EU Institutions and Agencies.

Description

The programme is the third module in a series of training events dedicated to European negotiations within EIPA’s Programme on European Negotiations (PEN). EN III focuses specifically on negotiations with the European Parliament, since the Institution is often portrayed by national negotiators and case handlers as a counterpart that is difficult to approach and unpredictable and complex to ‘read’ within the EU decision-making processes. The seminar aims to provide the participant with the necessary strategic, logistic, procedural and technical tools, as well as the knowledge, to thrive in negotiations with the European Parliament - specifically under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (formerly Co-Decision). The paramount objective is to help participants to plan and successfully run both formal and informal negotiations in order to reach agreement with the European Parliament on matters and dossiers subject to the ordinary legislative procedure. Even though the European Negotiations seminars have been designed as successive training modules to build an original curriculum destined for any European negotiator, participants can take part separately in the seminars of European Negotiations I, II or III, or in their order of preference.

Method

The programme follows a multilayered interactive approach based on a strategic workshop, a simulation exercise, debriefing sessions and fora for discussion. A genuine example will be used throughout the sessions in order to use real life experience to illustrate the processes and procedures that have proved successful in reality. This approach will ensure that participants capture the reality of the negotiating environment with the European Parliament. The method is also multidisciplinary by convening practitioners, governance experts and negotiation specialists to give multifaceted advice to participants on how to best manage the life of their dossier while in the European Parliament.

Objectives

Each participant should leave the training with a thorough understanding of how the European Parliament works and negotiates, as well as a multifunctional toolkit of techniques and negotiation skills to manage a dossier under ordinary legislative procedure, notably:

  • detailed knowledge of the procedures and modus operandi of the European Parliament
  • key understanding of the main negotiating counterparts in the Parliament
  • the timing and momentum of negotiations under ordinary legislative procedure for appropriate planning
  • strategic calculations for an early deal
  • the appropriate sources and targets of information around the dossier
  • a better understanding of the political nature of the game and the motivation of the players
  • the role of the European Commission as an involved third party.

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European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA)

Het Europees instituut voor bestuurskunde (beter bekend als The European Institute of Public Administration - ofwel EIPA) streeft ernaar om de kennis van ambtenaren die zich met de EU bezighouden te vergroten door het ontwikkelen en organiseren van trainingen. Het instituut wil wetenschappelijke kennis en praktische 'know–how' met elkaar verbinden. EIPA bestaat al meer dan 35 jaar.

Het hoofdkantoor van EIPA is gevestigd in Maastricht en heeft dependances in Luxemburg en Barcelona. Gemiddeld nemen 14.000 nationale en Europese ambtenaren per jaar deel aan de trainingen. Daarnaast biedt EIPA ook consultancy, onderzoek en op maat gemaakte programma’s/trainingen aan. Bij EIPA werken circa 120 hoogopgeleide medewerkers.

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