Sharing the Czech EU Presidency Experience

The Czech Platform of Development Cooperation (FoRS) has launched a new report titled „How to engage in the new EU Presidency” sharing the Czech EU presidency experience with Polish and Hungarian development CSOs and their platforms. From 15 to 17 June 2010, a pre-Presidency workshop and study visit to Prague took place where nearly 20 Polish and Hungarian CSO representatives participated. At this workshop experiences with the Czech presidency were shared both on the policy/advocacy and project level. The main EU developments were explained, such as the development effectiveness agenda and climate change negotiations.

This programme enabled a reflection on national platforms' priorities and plans for the EU Presidency in the light of the Czech experience and initiated discussions of a potential cooperation with respect to Hungarian and Polish official presidency priorities. The presidency experience was summarized from the perspective of the national platform and CSOs, and it was advised how to develop and manage a successful advocacy strategy based on this experience.

The role of the representation of the European Commission in the presidency countries was also discussed and and finally, government representatives shared their experiences of the Czech presidency. The report summarizes the main recommendations and findings from all the meetings and discussions. You can find the report in English and Polish on webpages of FoRS.

Follow-up events will take place in October in Hungary and in November in Poland on presidency priorities. Please contact FoRS, Zagranica Group or HAND for details.

Information provided by Tereza Ambrozova, FoRS