Support to the Government of the Republic of Slovakia on issues related to EU and International Development Policy

Detailed description of project Back

The Republic of Slovakia (SK) will hold the rotating EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2016, from 1 July to 31 December 2016. During the six-month period a number of important EU and Global development cooperation policy initiatives and events are expected to take place. Based on draft Commission proposals the Council is likely expected to deal with the following issues during the Presidency:

• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including update of EU development policy;
• Post-Cotonou, ACP-EU relations;
• Migration and security/development nexus;
• Follow-up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in Paris.

The issues may also be extended to cover other areas of Presidency focus, such as Security Sector Reform.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovakia, within its specific competencies, is charged with development policy and cooperation and, in this context, with taking the EU and global development agendas forward during their Council Presidency.

The specific objective of this contract is to support the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Slovakia to the European Union in Brussels and the team dealing with the EU Presidency in the headquarters/capital of its ministries, with independent expertise in development policy, in view of handling a demanding EU and Global Development Agenda.

Type of services provided

The experts will under very tight deadlines deliver the following:

• Provide policy analysis and preparation of files on all policies and programmes related to the ongoing Council Working Groups;
• Support preparatory work for key meetings and events according to the Presidency’s priorities and work plan in the field of EU development policy and, in particular, preparatory work of the relevant Council working groups and of the meetings of development ministers;
• Upon the Presidency’s request deliver tailored advice on negotiation strategy and approaches;
• Draft issue papers, non-papers, Council Conclusions, meeting reports, summaries, speaking and briefing notes or other relevant documents, and
• Cooperate and contact with the relevant departments of the Commission (mainly DG DEVCO), the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Council Secretariat and the European Parliament in order to gather relevant information and reports to assist the Presidencies in the preparation of different development cooperation policy dossiers;
• As the Development Agenda, and in consequence the issues to be handled during the EU Council Presidency will continue to evolve, the tasks and priorities of the experts will need to be adapted accordingly and will be agreed between the European Commission and the Presidency.

Services are provided by a team of two experts (team leader, junior development expert), both contracted by PROMAN.