1. Why does Poland take over the Presidency of the EU Council?
Holding the Presidency of the European Union Council is the realization of the obligations of a Member State of the EU. This obligation was introduced by the Treaty establishing the European Community of 1957.
2. Why does the Polish Presidency fall just on the second half of 2011?
According to the Article 203 of the Treaty establishing the European Community the office of President shall be held in the order decided by the Council unanimously. The present order of presidencies was determined till the half of 2020 in the Council Decision no 5/2007 of 1 January 2007 determining the order in which the office of President of the Council shall be held.
3. Will Poland exchange the term of the Presidency with Denmark due to the coincidence of the term of the Polish Presidency and the term of national elections to the Polish parliament?
A reversal of the Presidency terms with the Kingdom of Denmark is impossible due to the fact that the Danish election calendar foresees as well parliamentary elections in the second half of 2011.
4. Is it possible and how can one join the team functioning in the framework of the Department of the EU Presidency Coordination in the UKIE?
The team coordinating preparations for the Polish Presidency of the EU Council which functions in the framework of the KIE Office is still under development. Hence, persons interested in joining our team are welcome to follow current vacancy notices published on the UKIE website and in the Public Information Bulletin.
5. Is it possible to undergo training in the team of the Presidency preparations?
There is a possibility to undertake a cooperation with our team in the framework of unpaid student training. You are welcome to acquaint yourself with the rules of recruitment for training in the UKIE and procedures of candidates applications indicating that you are interested in training just in our department.
6. Which other way can one be involved in the works connected with the Polish Presidency?
In the course of the coming months it may probably appear plenty of employment possibilities in separate ministries for the posts linked with the Polish Presidency. In order to find interesting offers one should systematically follow vacancy notices published in the Public Information Bulletin and on the websites of the ministries with the profile one is interested in. Moreover, persons employed in the EU institutions will have a possibility to be delegated to the Polish public administration to realize the tasks related to the Presidency. The detailed rules according to which these persons could undertake a cooperation with the national administration bodies are currently being determined. A separate attention can be given to a possibility of employment as liaison officers during the Presidency.
7. What does the work of liaison officers consist of?
A liaison officer will be responsible for a complex care of a delegation from a given Member State or another state participating in summits and meetings organized in Poland – she/he accompanies a delegation on its way for -and from meetings, supervises logistic services of a delegation, coordinates its contacts with journalists, provides systematically information concerning timetable, place of a meeting, possible changes in the program and the like. Although a liaison officer is directly subordinated to the coordinator of liaison officers, it is a very responsible function and requires a lot of independence.
8. What requirements shall meet a candidate for a liaison officer?
The detailed formal requirements for candidates for the post of a liaison officer have not yet been determined. At a present stage only certain basic skills and qualities required from applicants can be determined. The most important are a good command of a minimum of two foreign languages (English and the language of a delegation a liaison officer will be responsible for) organizational skills, resistance to stress, communication, ability to function in a multicultural environment, discipline and punctuality, availability and personal culture. Furthermore, general knowledge on the EU, current events in Poland and in a country of a given delegation as well as knowledge on their societies and culture. A candidate’s experience in a work in a multinational environment and in team projects demanding a good organization will be taken into consideration too.
9. To whom the employment offer for a liaison officer will be addressed?
The recruitment will be addressed first and foremost to all the alumni and last years students, hence the most available persons without a full-time job, who will be able to devote half a year to this interesting but demanding work. The field of study will not be probably a decisive criterion but rather practical skills and predispositions a candidate will demonstrate during a recruitment procedure. However, one can suppose that it will be the most easy for students and alumni with a major in foreign languages and cultures, political science, European integration, international relations to prepare for this role.
10. When will the recruitment of liaison officers start and on what conditions will they be employed?
The start of the liaison officers recruitment is planned for the last quarter of 2010. The selected persons will undergo a series of trainings which are scheduled for the first half of 2011. As far as the detailed conditions on which liaison officers will be employed for the time of the Presidency of the EU Council are concerned, they have not been established yet. The amount of their remuneration and also the form of their employment (type of contract) and all the other details will be determined later but certainly before the recruitment process..
11. What events are related to the Presidency of the EU Council?
European Council – meeting of heads of states and governments with the aim of defining the general guidelines of further development of the European Union. Due to a considerable number of participants and a big interest from the media the organization of a meeting is a very demanding undertaking.
Ministerial Councils (configurations) - meetings of the Ministers of the Member States in the Council formula during which are taken the most important decisions concerning legislation and European politics. In case of unforeseen circumstances it is possible to call additional meetings to reconcile the positions of all Member States in a given case.
The working committees and groups – meetings of experts to reach a compromise on draft legislative documents of EU.
The EU/ third countries summit – meetings with the EU partners at international level can be organized with single countries or their groups. They are often held in the so called Troika formula that is with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country holding the Presidency, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy. For the organizational reasons only few summits are organized with participation of the representatives of all the EU Member States.
12. Where will the meetings be organized during the Polish Presidency?
Most of the events related to the Presidency will take place in Brussels where are the seats of the main Community institutions. Most of the meetings of representatives of the Member States, meetings of the European Council, the EU Council (Council configurations) and numerous meetings of the working committees and groups - will be held in the premises of the EU Council. Simultaneously some of the meetings related to the Presidency of the European Union Council will take part in Poland, that is in the country which holds the Presidency. These will be mainly informal meetings at ministerial level, also accompanying events such as conferences, symposiums, exhibitions, concerts or events of an economy, culture and tourist nature.
13. Will national meetings be organized only in Warsaw?
No. It is planned to hold part of the meetings in different Polish regions. On one hand it will make the course of Polish Presidency more attractive, on the other it will allow our country to make use of presence of the official delegations from other countries and accompanying them journalists to promote culture and tourist attractions of Poland.
14. What does presidency Trio means?
Trio is a new way of holding the Presidency of the EU Council, this form was proposed in the Treaty of Lisbon and despite the fact that the Treaty hasn’t entered into force yet, Trio is already a well established practice. Trio conception anticipates creation of a joint presidency by pre-established groups of three Member States (Trio) which holds the presidency of the EU Council for a period of 18 months, and each member of the group in turn chair for a six-month period all configurations of the Council. Member States hold the presidency on the basis of a common programme and help one another. Germany, Portugal and Slovenia in the spring 2006 have already complied with this new model and they prepared together the 18-month common programme of the presidency. The Polish partners in the Trio Presidency are Denmark and Cyprus.
15. Is there already a Polish presidency logo?
No. According to the timetable included in the Polish preparations program to take over and hold the presidency of the EU Council the invitation for tenders for the presidency logo is being planned for the end of 2009. We care about to select an interesting and attractive logo which will be a visible symbol of the Polish presidency. The positively remembered logo creates the state mark and this on the other hand influences a positive image of the country. The way the tender for the logo is carried out is not yet established, the information in this regard will be given on the website of the presidency.
16. Who will be taking part in the trainings preparing for the Polish presidency in the EU?
Firstly, persons from the presidency corps will take part in the trainings (see more in the preparation program). The presidency corps shall consist of the employees who will hold the following functions during the presidency:
- the chairman of the working group/deputy,
- the country delegate/ field coordinator,
- organizational coordinator.
In the next years the press officers and the employees of the communication units will be trained as well as the ministers and vice-ministers. After the completion of the recruitment process, in 2011, the liaison officers, organizational assistants and volunteers will be trained.
17. When will the trainings for the presidency corps and other persons involved in its organization begin?
First trainings for the presidency corps will begin in the second half of 2009.
The planned trainings, organized on central level will include three main categories:
- central trainings concerning the knowledge on law, EU institutions and decision-making process, for all the employees categories involved in the preparation,
- central trainings concerning different aspects of the presidency holding, including the so called soft skills, negotiations, chairing of the meetings, information flow management etc. in particular for the future working groups chairmen and its deputies as well as the country delegates,
- central trainings concerning the working languages of the EU (English, French) on different levels.
The trainings timetable is to be found in the preparations program of Poland to take over and hold the presidency of the EU Council.