The residential part of the 16th CSDP High Level Course (HLC) 2020-2021 ‘Jean REY’ started with the module in Brussels, which was jointly organised by the Royal Higher Institute for Defence and the Egmont Institute, and took place between 28 September and 2 October 2020. The course consists of four residential modules of one week each, to be held in Brussels, Madrid, Paris and Athens.
The overall aim of the CSDP High Level Course (HLC) is to prepare selected senior experts from EU Member States, candidate countries and EU institutions for leadership positions in the application and development of CSDP policy, crisis management and capability development, within the wider context of the CFSP, and to enable them to cooperate effectively with the various actors in this field. The course aims to broaden the participants’ knowledge and understanding of the EU security and defence architecture, the integrated approach to the CSDP as a key tool of the CFSP, of current and future policy, as well as missions and operations, and to increase their awareness of new threats and other horizontal issues.
63 participants have been selected with backgrounds as senior experts from the EU Member States and the EU institutions (military staff and civilians, including diplomats and police officers), who are either already working in key positions or have the clear potential to fill leadership posts, in particular in the field of the CFSP/CSDP.
The first module focuses on the CSDP in the overall context of the CFSP. Among other topics, it will cover the relevant articles in the TEU, the EU Global Strategy and subsequent Council conclusions on its implementation, EU policy shaping, decision-making and inter-institutional cooperation in general.
The first module is designed to deepen the participants’ understanding of how the EU institutions work and interact and of what role they play in the CFSP/CSDP, to provide an insight into recent EU strategic-level documents and policies, and to broaden their understanding of EU decision-making processes at political/strategic level and of external action. It familiarises participants with the EU institutions, the EEAS and the relevant EU agencies as well as other organisations/structures located in Brussels.
