How FSS utilized the Czech EU Presidency

Students

Numerous students were involved in the Presidency as interns, most often at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic or at relevant ministries. For example, they worked as assistants and accompanied foreign delegations or were involved in organizing events. Overall, the interns were a very important part of the Presidency staff. Some students’ future bachelor's or master's theses may prove to also have been inspired by the Presidency.

Graduates

Quite a few FSS graduates, especially from the Department of International Relations and European Studies, work in the Czech state administration, which deals with the European agenda. It is therefore not surprising that many of these people were directly involved in the substance of the Presidency - negotiating and managing working groups, proposing compromises for further negotiations, and accompanying ministers to meetings of the Council of the EU. FSS graduates were also involved in managing the organization and logistics of the Presidency and its overall domestic coordination.

Employees

The FSS has many experts dedicated to working on research about European integration and international relations. They commented on the course of the Presidency for various types of Czech and foreign media. They wrote commentaries or gave interviews on a number of Presidency events or accomplishments, thus fulfilling the third role of the university. The Presidency is also a source of data for experts to analyze - in the coming months, we can expect to see expert articles and studies on the Czech Presidency.

Petr Kaniok

How did you come to work for the Czech EU Presidency while studying at FSS MUNI?

Actually, quite amusingly - in the autumn of 2021, I attended a course on Czech European Politics with Associate Professor Petr Kaniok, where he told us about the vacancies in the upcoming Czech Presidency. It took me a while to make up my mind, and I emailed him late that night to see if he knew if there were any positions still open - and by sheer coincidence, he had just received information about a job offer for the position of Liaison Officer. I read it, wrote up the necessary documents, and sent in the application.

What was your role?

As I mentioned above, my position was Liaison Officer - each of us was assigned a foreign delegation (either from a Member State or one of the international agencies), which we were responsible for throughout the Presidency. I was assigned to Slovenia.

We accompanied these delegations, and especially the Head of Delegation, to high-level events (i.e. informal summits and European political communities, informal councils).

It was also important to cooperate with the embassy here in the Czech Republic and to communicate with the relevant foreign ministry whose representatives were about to visit the Czech Republic. So we were in charge of all the communication, and logistics before the delegation arrived and the same during their stay. In addition, we had to make sure that the Head of the Delegation was as satisfied as possible with the course of the whole informal council. 😊

What surprised you about your work? Or disappointed you?

I was surprised by just about everything! In a good way. Finally, I could get some hands-on experience with the work in the field I have been studying for the past five years. 😊 As part of our preparations, we went through detailed training not only from the Office of the Government but also from the Police of the Czech Republic and intensive training from the Diplomatic Academy, which you don't normally get so easily.

All my delegations were great and I dare say they left happy (according to the feedback from both the Slovenian Embassy in Prague and the delegates themselves).

The only thing that disappointed me was that I found something like this as my very first work experience because I have now set the bar very high for myself - not every job involves being present and communicating with top politicians and traveling around Prague accompanied by motorcades of the Czech Police (sometimes with our own bodyguard if it was a protected person 😊).

What comes next after the Presidency? I mean, has the Presidency opened up any other job opportunities for you?

It definitely solidified my wish to stay in the field and I was incredibly excited about the diplomatic aspect of the profession. The EU Presidency has opened up another opportunity for me, and now I am on a five-month internship right in the heart of the Union - in Brussels, specifically at the Representation of the South Moravian Region.

Above all, it has brought me new friends and contacts that simply won't disappear. I have even arranged to meet a member of the delegation I was in charge of in Prague here in Brussels. And I'm curious to see where the experience will take me next!