Target group
Middle-level managers, senior experts and advisers from ministries, central and regional agencies and other public authorities, who are involved in preparation, negotiation and/or implementation of EU policies and law.

Description
This practice oriented workshop provides an opportunity for managers and senior advisors to share own and benefit from others’ experiences with the review and/or development of national EU strategies, and this whether related to participating in the EU decision-making process (Module 1) or implementing EU policies and law (Module 2).

Experience shows that countries having a consistent and coherent approach throughout the different stages of the making and implementation of EU law are the most successful in promoting national interests and avoiding time consuming and costly infringement procedures.  The workshop is divided into two stand-alone modules, each lasting 1½ days, which can be attended separately or together. 

Module 1 addresses how to develop or strengthen a national EU strategy when participating in EU decision-making forums and thereby increase the influence on the outcome of the negotiations in such forums. 
Module 2 focuses on the link between such strategies and national strategies related to the implementation of adopted EU policies and law, the contents of the latter strategies and how a combined national EU strategy may contribute to reduced implementation costs as well as lower the risk for infringement procedures and/or state liability in national litigation procedures

Learning methodology
The workshop is designed to optimise the opportunity to combine the acquisition of applied theory with exchanges of experience among the participants and between the participants and the workshop team. To this end, it is based on a combination of group work, a simulation, presentations with Q&A sessions and case studies presented by colleagues from Member States having introduced or in the process of developing national EU decision-making and implementation strategies

Objectives
The overall aim of the workshop is to provide the participants with a better understanding of the need for having a national strategy for both the development and the implementation of European Union legislation. More specifically, the objectives of the seminar are: 
• to transfer methodology and the practical tools necessary to ensure a consistent and coherent position throughout the whole process of EU law making;
• to provide guidance on balancing domestic and supra-national political interests on the one hand, and constitutional and legal requirements on the other; 
• to enable participants to identify alternatives and to assess the impact of transposition of EU legislation at the national level; 
• to learn by doing and exchange experiences with colleagues from other countries. 

Participants, when having finalised the workshop, will have a holistic view on the link between national preferences, EU policy and law-making processes and implementation objectives and should be able to design a strategy in their respective policy areas.

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