The EU Communication Project was developed by the British Council in direct response to needs expressed by the beneficiaries, who are government officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Client, stakeholders, partners

• Directorate for European Integration (DEI) of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• The Government of Montenegro
• The Government of Serbia (future)
• UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (sponsor)

Focus
Establishing cadres of state-level officials with the English language communication skills necessary for functioning in international contexts.

The project
The EU Communication Project was developed by the British Council in direct response to needs expressed by the beneficiaries, who are government officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The governments of Montenegro and Serbia have also expressed interest and will join the wider project Skills for EU.

The project develops essential skills and so supports Public Administration Reform towards EU accession. It responds to a UK government priority for the region: Reuniting Europe and Building Administrative Capacity for EU integration.

According to Osman Topčagić, Director of the Directorate for EU Integration (DEI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, staff across state level institutions urgently need to develop the English language skills they need for functioning in an international context. These include writing skills (e.g. writing reports and speeches) and presentation skills (e.g. making presentations; addressing various audiences in an appropriate manner).

Key individuals in these three countries will be taking advantage of the various opportunities offered by the project over the planned 3-year period.

The project components are:

• Intensive training for up to 300 civil servants from the three countries in EU-related skills which include formal correspondence, presentation skills, leading and participating in working group meetings, negotiation skills and others.
• EU Communication and Skills for EU training kits, produced by the British Council and distributed across state-level institutions.
• At least 30 local trainers who are enabled to provide cascade training in Skills for EU in all of the countries involved.
• Brussels study tours for up to 20 civil servants, including familiarisation with EU institutions and English language skills training.
• The project was launched in 2007 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and will be implemented in Montenegro from 2008 to 2010, and in Serbia from 2009 to 2010.

What the stakeholders say
Evaluation of the training shows an impressive overall improvement of skills and a high rate of satisfaction among participants with the British Council's services.

• "The course was excellent. I am very impressed with the lecturers and trainers."
  Radmila Bjelić Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• "Very useful, well designed and delivered by excellent experts. Very relevant to my work"
  Dr Šerifa Godinjak, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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