192 days left until Estonia’s EU presidency: new talents from EU institutions are joining the presidency team

The Presidency Committee, which met for the last time this year, was advised that 18 top experts from EU institutions would be joining the Estonian presidency team in the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU (PREU). The majority of these experts are Estonian nationals who have previously worked in the private or public sectors and wish to contribute to the success of Estonia’s EU presidency.

The 13 experts to be temporarily moved to the PREU from the European Commission will be responsible for the policy areas of development cooperation, electronic communication, air transport, foreign trade agreements, internal market, agriculture, climate and environment, communication, internal security and institutional relations. An expert loaned from the European Parliament will deal with the European Free Trade Area, and a coordinator from the European External Action Service will be responsible for development cooperation and humanitarian aid. The European Aviation Safety Agency will provide an expert in the field of transport. A communication expert and a coordinator in the field of justice will be joining the presidency team from the EU Council Secretariat. The exact number of experts depends on the number of drafting processes completed by Malta during its presidency and will be known shortly before the start of Estonia’s presidency term.

All of the previous presidencies have also used experts on loan from EU institutions. The costs related to the experts on secondment will be paid from the budgets of the relevant institutions. “For the Estonian national budget, this means a saving of around €1.3 million as there will be no need for foreign missions,” said Uku Särekanno, the Presidency Organisation Manager in Brussels.

According to Mr. Särekanno, there are more than 600 Estonian nationals working in EU institutions and it is important to involve them to ensure a successful presidency. “The EU decision-making process is very complicated and these people have excellent experience, and the network of contacts necessary to negotiate the corridors of power,” explained Särekanno.

Cooperation with think tanks

Cooperation with Brussel’s think tanks is important to promote the activities of the EU presidency. The Presidency Committee was given an overview of cooperation opportunities and requests from ministries to think tanks for sectoral analyses. The ministries submitted a total of 13 requests to the Government Office.

Training

Finding the right people for the various roles within presidency and their training have been key priorities of the preparations for the presidency. As the presidency approaches, training is drawing to a close. More than 160 training sessions and workshops were provided to more than 2,800 participants. Training programmes on EU institutions, decision-making processes, the legal system, negotiations and cooperation with European Parliament have either been completed or ensured with participants. Training on preparing for and chairing working group meetings and on communication will continue from the beginning of next year through to early spring.

Spokespersons

The Presidency Committee was informed about the PREU spokespersons. Not only will the Estonian press take more of an interest in EU issues and developments in the Union, but Estonia as the country holding the EU presidency will attract a high degree of international media attention. PREU has currently 35 spokespersons: ambassadors, sectoral experts, press officers. Spokespersons for Estonia in Brussels will have to provide explanations to and answer the questions of the international media corps in Brussels.

Of other topics, the Presidency Committee briefly discussed budgetary and HR issues, technical solutions for the information space of delegates and the development of the visual concept of the presidency.