• The differences between legislative acts, implementing acts (the world of ‘comitology’!) and the new delegated acts, relating them to their place in the EU policy cycle, as well as in the hierarchy of laws.
• The decision-making procedures within the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, and the ways in which national officials and other stakeholders fit into the policy process.
• The ordinary legislative procedure and how a ‘trilogue’ works.
• Delegated and implementing acts using topical cases (including the well-known ‘glyphosate’ saga).

• Understand the essential principles and procedures that you need to know in order to be credible when operating in an EU context
• Be able to decode messages and reports from Brussels
• Be more effective in your own interactions with other officials
• Be better equipped to explain how things work to your colleagues and associates
• Have a feel for how things work in practice, and be able to prepare appropriately
• Have a solid basis for continuous learning on the job afterwards.

• Officials who have taken on a new role in Brussels
• Officials who have to take part in meetings in the Commission or Council
• Anyone who needs to know how EU decision-making works in practice

Course methodology and highlights
We believe learning happens best with practical knowledge. So this course includes:

• Extensive insights with multiple examples and real life cases
• Group exercises
• Role plays and simulation games
• Inputs from an experienced EU practitioner as the basis for discussion among participants about the practical demands of participation in the various stages of EU decision-making.

• The legal bases for what the EU can and cannot do
• The main ways in which decisions are taken
• The different powers that Member States have given to the EU
• The roles and structures of the EU institutions