European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA)

On Friday, 19 June, the European Public Sector Award 2025-26 (EPSA) validation visits for Category II Investing in Infrastructure, Mobility and Energy officially got underway. EIPA representatives Christoph Klika and Isabela Puscasu travelled to Reading, UK, to launch the process with the very first visit for this category, focusing on the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Copernicus ECMWF at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts - ECMWF.

C3S serves as a critical infrastructure for public administrations across Europe. By providing authoritative, open-access climate data, it helps policy-makers translate complex scientific models into actionable national, regional and local policies, enhancing long-term environmental planning and resilience.

During the visit, the EIPA team had the opportunity to discuss the strategic impact and future of the service with Director-General Florian Pappenberger.

The agenda featured deep-dive exchanges with key experts driving the project’s implementation, among others:
📌 Carlo Buontempo (Office of the Director-General) explained how international contracts are coordinated to bridge the gap between climate science and public decision-making.
📌 Laurence Rouil (Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service - CAMS) highlighted the integration of data monitoring within broader meteorological frameworks.
📌 Samantha Burgess, PhD (Deputy Director of C3S) detailed how climate datasets and seasonal forecasts are actively used by public authorities.
📌 Angel López Alós (Manager of the Copernicus Climate and Atmosphere Data Store) demonstrated how these datasets are operationalized into a reliable, user-centric platform.

A big thank you to the entire team at ECMWF for organising an excellent programme and for the warm welcome!

EPSA is made possible with the financial support of the EU Technical Support Instrument, managed by the European Commission (SG REFORM), and contributions from Austria, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the Provincie Limburg and the Gemeente Maastricht.

✨Kick off of the validation visits to the winning projects in Category I of the European Public Sector Award 2025-2026 (EPSA)✨

Last week, EIPA representatives Pavlina Stoykova and Rafaella Giussani started the validation process for the most competitive award category in the current EPSA edition, Category 'Innovating Government, Governance and Policies', with a visit to the project '[email protected]' presented by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.

CHWorld 2.0 is an advanced digital platform for policy consultation and coordination across the Swiss diplomatic service and various federal departments. It secures automated updates from external sources in interoperable format, dynamic human input in standardised form, real time collaborative space for policy co-design. The platform advanced tools for data collection, monitoring and evaluation facilitate complex scenario planning, evidence-based country and thematic analysis, and timely reporting.

Many thanks to the project core team Jean-Marc Flükiger, Fabian Froehlich, Anette Wittwer, and 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐢𝐧 for the excellent programme and for the comprehensive overview of the project conception, features and outlook.

The EIPA representatives had the opportunity to meet State Secretary Alexandre Fasel and Chief of Staff Elisabeth Gilgen, and to hear the appreciation of the project added-value and the high-level support for its further development.

The visit included deep-dive demonstration of CHWorld 2.0 functionalities:
📌 Martin Michelet, Jean-Marc Flükiger, 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 and 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐁𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭 provided live simulation of the preparation and consolidation of the Swiss position on a specific multilateral file
📌 Aurèle Aquillon demonstrated the functionalities and real time update options of 'country pages' and Miriam Imesch offered further insights on the platform added-value for bilateral diplomacy

Congratulations and a big thank you for the warmest welcome in Bern!

EPSA is made possible with the financial support of the EU Technical Support Instrument, managed by the European Commission (SG REFORM), and contributions from Austria, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the Provincie Limburg and the Gemeente Maastricht.

On18 June, the EPSA team, represented by Marco Lopriore and Lucrezia Tombelli, was in Berlin for the validation visit of BärGPT, one of the three winning projects in Category III – Delivering User-Centric Services at Subnational Level.

The visit took place at CityLAB Berlin, located in the historic building of Tempelhof Airport, and provided an instructive opportunity to collect further evidence on the project and gain a deeper understanding of its practical impact. During the visit, the EPSA team met with the project managers from CityLAB Berlin, Dr. Benjamin Seibel, Ingo Hinterding, and Anna M., as well as the project sponsors from the Senatskanzlei Berlin, Karen Laßmann and Benyamin Abdülhay.

CityLAB Berlin is continuously supporting the use of BärGPT among civil servants, with the number of users growing steadily. This project is a strong example of how public administrations can approach AI in a practical, responsible, and useful way: not as a replacement for people, but as a tool to support daily administrative processes, save time, and help public servants make better use of limited resources.

The Berlin Senate Chancellery also shared how BärGPT has contributed to developments in e-government regulations, how a voluntary network of ambassadors is being established to promote the tool further across public administration, and how it is helping improve internal processes in time-consuming tasks at district level.

A big thank you to the whole BärGPT team for welcoming us and sharing their experience!

EPSA 2025-26 is financed by the European Commission, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and supported by the Province of Limburg and the City of Maastricht.

Deadline extended to apply for the Master of European Legal Studies (MELS) Online!

Are you a recent graduate or a professional looking to deepen your expertise in European law while balancing your career?

The Master of European Legal Studies - MELS Online, delivered in partnership with the Universite de Lorraine, offers you the opportunity to earn a French Master degree: Master en études européennes – spécialité Droit de l’union européenne.

✔ 2-year online programme
✔ no prior degree in law is required
✔ 4 academic weekends per semester
✔ bilingual programme (English and French)
✔ in-person events in Luxembourg
✔ renewed international faculty and guest experts

Whether you work in public administration, EU institutions, NGOs, or the private sector, MELS helps you gain in-depth legal knowledge and practical skills to advance your career.

Application deadline: 24 September

Do you have questions? Join our upcoming info day on 18 June from 17.00:

www.eipa.eu

📊 Drejt një administrate publike më cilësore dhe më efikase!

Në bashkëpunim me European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) dhe me mbështetjen e Programit të Asistencës Teknike të Luksemburgut zhvilluam trajnimin “The Common Assessment Framework (CAF)”.

Trajnimi u zhvillua nga ekspertet e EIPA-s, Tihana Puzić, Giovanna Belisário dhe Christiane Lamesch, të cilat ndanë përvojën dhe praktikat më të mira evropiane në fushën e menaxhimit të cilësisë në sektorin publik.

🇦🇱 Shqipëria është pjesë e rrjetit evropian CAF dhe ka të caktuar CAF National Correspondent, i cili shërben si pikë kombëtare kontakti për koordinimin, promovimin dhe mbështetjen e zbatimit të modelit CAF në administratën publike shqiptare.

🎓 Ministria e Punëve të Jashtme dhe Evropiane e Luksemburgut ofron bursa për profesionistët e administratës publike për ndjekjen e programit Master of European Legal Studies (MELS), organizuar nga Instituti Europian i Administratës Publike(EIPA) në bashkëpunim me Universitetin e Lorraine.

✅ Program 2-vjeçar, i zhvilluar plotësisht online
✅ I përshtatshëm për profesionistët në marrëdhënie pune
✅ Mbulim i plotë i tarifës së studimeve
✅ Mbulim i shpenzimeve të udhëtimit, akomodimit dhe ushqimit për aktivitetet fizike në Luksemburg

📅 Afati i aplikimit: 15 qershor 2026

📌 Për më shumë informacion mbi programin dhe kriteret e pranimit, klikoni këtu: https://www.eipa.eu/mels/

Mos humbisni këtë mundësi të shkëlqyer për zhvillim profesional dhe akademik në fushën e çështjeve evropiane!

A full house in Barcelona for EIPA’s flagship training course on Recent Developments in European Public Procurement and Case Law.

This week, we welcome 32 public procurement professionals, with participants evenly representing European institutions, bodies and agencies, alongside national administrations from EU Member States.

Bringing together expertise and perspectives from across Europe, the course provides a platform to exchange knowledge, discuss recent developments and strengthen public procurement practice.

Over two days, our expert faculty is guiding participants through the most significant developments in European public procurement over the past 12 months, exploring the latest legislative, policy and case law developments and discussing their practical implications for practitioners across Europe.

Beyond the learning experience, participants are also taking the opportunity to exchange views and expand their professional networks in the beautiful setting of Barcelona.

This seminar is one of EIPA’s flagship public procurement training events and forms part of our European Public Procurement Certification Programme, supporting the professional development of procurement practitioners across the EU.

Tomorrow will be an important day for many participants, as the majority will sit the certification examination and put their newly acquired knowledge to the test.

The next edition of this seminar will be offered again in December 2026 and is already open for registration on EIPA’s website: https://www.eipa.eu/courses/european-public-procurement-case-law/

We look forward to welcoming a new group of procurement professionals and continuing this tradition of learning, exchange and professional excellence.

We wish all participants every success in tomorrow’s examination!

Knowledge Management in Public Sector Organisations: Embracing Digitalisation and AI

Over the last two days we discussed the knowledge management and talent management concepts, while also exploring the integration of AI and digitalisation within this context. Participants learnt to apply proven tools and how to implement KM in their teams and in their organisation.

Thank you to all participants and experts who joined us!

What do we do when we're not supporting the public sector?

Yesterday, a team of colleagues took part in Maastrichts Mooiste to celebrate EIPA’s 45th anniversary.

Whether running for a personal best, enjoying the atmosphere, or simply embracing the challenge together, our colleagues demonstrated the same qualities that drive our work every day: commitment, perseverance and teamwork.

On 3 June 2026, EIPA’s Board of Governors, composed of national representatives, met in Luxembourg at the invitation of, and hosted by, the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. In addition to operational matters, Board Members reflected on recent developments and discussed strategic priorities for public administrations across Europe for the period ahead.

As a recognised hub for public administration, EIPA, through its training programmes and projects implemented at European level, continues to demonstrate its role as a trusted partner, supporting national and EU public administrations in an ever-changing landscape.

EIPA would like to thank the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade for its warm hospitality and excellent organisation of the meeting.