Training in European Affairs - Previous projects
Justice and Home Affairs - 2008
The training programme Justice and Home Affairs was organized for the first time ever between October 30th – 31st 2008, being one of the specialized programmes identified in the training needs analysis conducted by the European Institute of Romania at the end of 2007. The Justice and Home Affairs pillar of the European Union, which traditionally entered in the competence and jurisdiction of nation-states is increasingly becoming a community issue in need of cooperation and decision-making at a continental level. Themes such as the freedom of movement, the Schengen acquis and emigration raise a lot of challenges to specialists in the field, and these were themes presented in very succinct fashion during the training programme.
The participants at the inaugural edition of the training programme centered around the theme of Justice and Home Affairs were mainly representatives of the central administration. Considering the rather limited area of subject, it was expected that institutions such as the Ministry of Justice and the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police would have the greatest numbers of representatives. Nonetheless other public bodies were also represented: Bucharest City Hall, National Agency of Public Servants, the Authority for the Capitalization of Public Assets, the Ministry of Labor, Family and Equal Opportunity, the Department of Interethnic Relations of the Romanian Government. Many of the participants conduct their activity in the European Affairs departments, most of them occupying functions of legal counselor or European Affairs counselor. The total number of participants for this initial session was 33.
Due to a partnership with the National School of Political Science and Administration and a scholarship programme of the Soros Foundation in the Republic of Moldavia, the training programme was also attended by a person of Moldavian citizenship from the Department of Judicial Management.
The Justice and Home Affairs training programme was organized in order to clarify and bring structure to the essential elements needed in understanding the transformation of the European Union in a common security, liberty and justice space.
The third pillar of the European construction contains regulations and standards applicable in the following fields: asylum, external borders, visas, emigration, European citizenship, organized crime, fraud and corruption, drugs, terrorism, police cooperation, customs cooperation, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal actions, protection of personal data, human rights and the Schengen convention.
The training programme organized by the EIR offered course participants the bench-marks and the necessary instruments for understanding the interference between the national and the European spheres when insuring the safety of citizens in a context of freedom and justice.
As it was previously mention, the Justice and Home Affairs training programme took place for the first time in the period October 30th – 31st 2008. The two training days contained several session for a total of 16 hours of training, including a period dedicated to the administration of a test, based on which the participation certificates were awarded.
The Justice and Home Affairs programme was developed in a series of modules structured on the following themes:
- the objective of the common justice, security and liberty space
- the history of the common liberty, security and justice space
- institutions involved in creating a common justice, security and liberty space
- the harmonization of Romanian legislation with the JHA acquis
- the Schengen acquis
- freedom of movement
The modules were presented by dr. Simina - Elena Tănăsescu, PhD in Law, famed Romanian expert in constitutional law, as well as trainer with wide experience in European Affaires; dr. Tănăsescu has lectured courses in universities and research institutes in Romania and other countries, she is also the author of countless books and studies in constitutional and parliamentarian law. Her experience includes acting as judge, but also as expert in Phare programmes. She has also collaborated with the Delegation of the European Commission in Bucharest in the monitoring of EU financed programmes in the fields of public administration and justice.
From the standpoint of training methods, lecture and discussions were combined, the study of case-law being also used during the exercises.
The assessment of the training programme by the participants was conducted through the administration of an opinion poll fulfilled anonymously containing questions in which marks were awarded pertaining to the general level of the programme, as well as that of the different modules, but also contained open questions about the most useful or redundant knowledge accumulated during the four days of training. Also there were open spaces for further comments and suggestions.
The general evaluation of the programme showed a high satisfaction level among course participants, 66% of them appreciating the training programme as excellent, and 27% of them as very good. Among the modules of the course, the one dedicated to the freedom of movement accumulated the most positive marks (78% of respondents considering it excellent), while the presentation of the institutions involved in the creation of a common space of security, liberty and justice was perceived as excellent by 48% of participants, very good by 45% and good by 7%.
The most useful themes identified by participants were: the harmonization of Romanian legislation with the Community acquis, the institutional roadmap of extradition, cooperation among states, the Schengen convention. None of the problems debated during the programme was considered useless or redundant.
The criticisms addressed were related to the differing allocation of time, some modules being presented in a limited period of time in comparison with others. Also there were observations about the insufficient time given to the lunch break and the temperature in the training hall.
Here is a selection of the opinions expressed of participants:
- the trainer is very well documented; the cases presented were very interesting, the course was well built up and instructive
- all my expectations about the usefulness and the necessity of this course were justified; I am extremely satisfied with the way in which information was presented and also the results; the interactive character allowed the elucidation of lesser known aspects
- both the trainer, as well as the knowledge accumulated I have great regard for, the programme being a fundamental and relevant approach to Justice and Home Affairs, allowing the deeper understanding of the concept, the purpose and the content of JHA
- the organization of the course was excellent, but a bit overturned by the use of English language bibliographical materials
- a selection of participants according to the level of the course would be more appropriate
- the level of detail of the programme ought to be clarified, so participants can make an informed decision about the courses adapted to their level of preparation
The Justice and Home Affairs training programme was organized by the EIR at its headquarters in Bucharest, 7-9 Regina Elisabeta bldv in the conference hall.
The project coordinator was Laurenţia Mariana Mereuţă, laurentia.mereuta@ier.ro
