As a part of its preparation for the Presidency – complementary to the central training programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office – the Ministry of Defence has developed a ‘CSDP EU Presidency Training Strategy’ for the staff of the Ministry. In order to prepare the members of the staff directly involved in the tasks of the Presidency the Ministry of Defence organises a series of Presidency seminars with the aim of providing information useful for presidency work by lectures given by Hungarian and foreign experts.

At the same time, these events provide occasions for the Presidency staff to network and discuss the relevant topics. The seminars are hosted by Mr. Zsolt Nagy, head of the Defence Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence.

The first seminar held on 18th February, 2010, was opened by Mr. József Bali, State Secretary for Defence Policy. The lecturers were Mr. Péter Szőke, head of unit of the EU-Presidency, Co-ordination and Legal Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the liaison officers delegated by the Spanish and Belgian Governments to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Juan Pablo García Andújar and Mr. Peter Lescouhier. The seminar aimed at introducing the context of the Hungarian EU Presidency, the Spanish-Belgian-Hungarian Trio Presidency programme and the co-operation within the Trio.

The opening speech of seminar was delivered by State Secretary Mr. József Bali. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of the preparation for the Trio Presidency and asked the staff involved in the Presidency work to take an active part in the seminars. The State Secretary highlighted the importance of the occasion in providing an excellent opportunity for the MoD to get acquainted with, and to make use of, the experiences of the Spanish and Belgian partners during the Hungarian preparation. He also gave a short briefing on the tasks related to the preparation of the EU Presidency of the Ministry and the institutional changes due to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. In his lecture, Péter Szőke summarized the most important elements of the Trio programme and informed on the work of the Council and the institution of the rotating Presidencies. He touched upon the challenges arising from the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and highlighted the supranational aspect of the Presidency, i.e. that Hungary will represent the European Union as a whole during its term of Presidency, and so it has to prepare for the tasks in this spirit.

Juan Pablo García Andújar presented the Spanish Presidency programme which had been elaborated by the Spanish government by July and finalized in November 2009. He listed the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the follow-up of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the establishment of the new European Parliament and the Commission, as well as the management of the consequences of the economic and financial crisis as major challenges of the Spanish Presidency. The Spanish Presidency regards the promotion of the European citizenship as a priority, especially when it comes to the mainstreaming gender equality. According to Mr. Andújar, the Spanish Prime Minister is personally committed to the latter issue. The Spanish Presidency intends to enhance the Union’s civilian and military capabilities in the area of the Common Security and Defence Policy, to strengthen the role of the European Defence Agency, as well as to develop a closer co-operation with partners (UN, NATO, OSCE, African Union).

Peter Lescouhier started his presentation by pondering the significance of the rotating presidency, not only for the presiding country but for certain regions as well. According to his assessment, the Hungarian Presidency can give an impetus to the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans. In 2010, Belgium is going to take her turn of Presidency for the 12th time, so they have already learned the importance of co-ordination and communication, not only on a governmental level (between ministries) but – in this case – with the other two countries of the Trio as well (at this point, he referred to his own position as liaison officer within the Trio). Mr. Lescouhier emphasized the importance of informing the public. He also pointed out that the Presidency should continuously be present in the press and on the internet so that the work carried out could be followed all the time.

The priorities of the Belgian Presidency will be finalised in May 2010, and the work programme has to be approved by the Parliament until the 15th of June. He remarked that the key of a successful presidency is following the rules and procedures as well as promoting the initiatives of the EU institutions. The co-ordination of the presidency tasks is carried out by a General Directorate for European Affairs and Co-ordination set up within the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comprising a team responsible for logistics and financial matters. According to Peter Lescouhier, Belgium spends about 100 million Euros on tasks related to its presidency. According to his comparison, the presiding country acts as a kind of GPS, i.e. it does not define but rather suggests a direction for the Union. He also explained the liaison officers’ task within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that consists in facilitating the work of the ‘Trio focal point’ (in Hungary, Ms. Adrien Müller, head of the EU-Presidency, Co-ordination and Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) who is in charge of co-ordinating the presidency tasks, as well as to transmit information about the preparations for the Belgian Presidency, and last but not least, to support the co-operation among the Trio partners. He also promised that – in case of need – the liaison officers are ready to assist the work of the Hungarian ministries and other governmental organisations as well. Answering questions of the audience after the presentations, the problems of immigration and asylum, the Stockholm Programme as a framework for EU action for the next five years in the area of justice and home affairs, the Danube Strategy, and the experiences of the previous Belgian Presidencies were also discussed.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)