Last week, Julia Soldatiuk-Westerveld, Wouter Zweers, Max Eleveld and Christiaan Nelisse briefed and trained a group of 30 rule of law specialists from the Ukrainian civil service on EU accession, with up to 100 others joining them online.

The Clingendael team informed the group in what to expect when meeting the European Commission for the upcoming bilateral screenings, as part of the accession process. An interview carrousel, lectures and panels created space for interactive discussions on the daily practice of EU accession negotiations in the rule of law domain. Topics ranged from the negotiation dynamics to the factors that drive the political engagement around accession.

Participants took part in mock high-level policy presentations, developed strategies, and worked together with our experts in a tailored roadmap exercise.

One of the highlights was the session with Dr. Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, former Montenegrin negotiator for European Integration and Drita Abdiu-Halili, Former State Secretary & Deputy Chief Negotiator with the EU. They provided lessons learned from their years of EU accession engagement with the European Commission.

EU accession practitioners also gathered for a panel discussion. Dr. Fjoralba Caka, Dr. Jovana Marovic, Dr. Milica Kolakovic-Bojovic and Beba Zhagar shared lessons learned from the experiences of other candidate countries to the EU. Also Dr. Viktoria Melnyk and Roman Smaliuk shared valuable insights.

Want to know more about the practical trainings that the Clingendael Academy provides for professionals working in or dealing with the EU? Then please reach out to: cnelisse@clingendael.org and meleveld@clingendael.org.