Event Report – The Sixth Edition of the Leadership Development Programme completed

The final seminar for the LDP Sixth Generation was held 21-26 April, 2012 in Belgium. With this event the sixth cycle of the Leadership Development Programme was completed. During this seminar 30 participants met policy-makers from the EU, members of the European Commission, European Parliament, and NATO. With Members of the European Parliament Lothar Jashcke, Irena Andrassy and Ulrike Lunacek, they talked about ‘EU – WB Relations’, ‘Croatia’s Accession’, and the ‘European Parliament’. ‘The Future of the EU’ and ‘The Impact of the Current Crisis on the EU’s Future Enlargement’ were topics of a panel discussion held with Michael Emerson from Centre for Policy Studies, (CEPS), Neil Campbell from the Open Society Institute (OSI), and Rosa Balfour from European Policy Centre (EPC). In Bruges participants visited the College of Europe where Wilbur Perlot held a session about theory and practice of international negotiations. During the seminar attendees presented their group projects and learning reviews. After the last Summer Academy, participants were divided into five groups according to the topic of interest. They then worked together toward implementing a project developed during the Summer Academy, finishing with final events held in Tirana, Sarajevo, Pristine, Skopje, and Novi Sad. This Spring Seminar serves to encompass this work and present and confirm what they have learned and how they developed their group project. Participants had to choose among these five topics: 1. Albania – How can the EU do better in the Balkans? – ‘Flick EU’. 2. Bosnia and Herzegovina – The Challenges of Achieving EU Candidate Status – ‘Time for Plan B(alkans)’ 3. Kosovo – Regional Cooperation in the SEE – ‘How I “SEE” it’. 4. Macedonia – National Identities, Minority Rights, and European Integration – ‘Identify your Identity’. 5. Serbia – European Culture and Values – ‘Europe for your Thoughts’. At the end of the final seminar participants were given certificates and became members of the EFB Community. The call for applicants for the new generation of LDP candidates is over and now is the time for the selection committee to choose. The list of participants for the 7th Generation won’t be known until the end of July. The first seminar for the next generation is the Summer Academy scheduled for the beginning of September. The Leadership Development Programme was launched in 2006/2007 by the College of Europe and the TRANSFUSE Association. The European Fund for the Balkans began financing the programme in 2008 and since 2009 is organizing it jointly with the College of Europe and the TRANSFUSE Association. It is part of the EFB’s Experiencing Europe programme. Thirty graduate students from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey are selected each year to take part in the eight-month long ‘Southeast Europe and the EU – Leadership Development Programme’. A limited number of participants are selected from other European countries. The LDP is led by an Academic Dean who guides the participants through the different elements of the program. More information about Leadership Development Programme More about Leadership Development Programme 2011/2