The eighth group of Ukrainian civil servants begins training at the College of Europe in Natolin

Time flies swiftly! It feels like just yesterday when the initial cohort of Ukrainian civil servants from central public administration bodies embarked on their journey to Natolin. And now, this week marks the commencement of two months of training for the final group, Group 8, under the Natolin4Capacity Building project.

This group is focused on future accession talks within the first clusters of negotiating chapters—Fundamentals. The 8 participants represent the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice, and the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Secretariat of the Cabinet of the Minister of Ukraine.

A specially designed educational program offers Ukrainian civil servants responsible for European integration processes a unique opportunity to learn from leading experts on EU matters, most of whom were directly involved in the negotiation process during the EU’s biggest enlargement in 2004 or in next phases of the EU’s enlargement. Key components of the program include analytical work, simulation games, individual meetings with representatives of local authorities, and a study trip to Brussels.

The training is part of the Natolin4CapacityBuilding project—an EU-funded initiative implemented by the College of Europe in Natolin in cooperation with its key Ukrainian partners: the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service, the High School of Public Governance, and the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.