On 26 October 2020, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, launched the eighth session of the Intensive Programme in European Law and Economics at the Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL), in which, this year, participation will take place “online” for 100 young professionals from European Neighbourhood Policy countries, Central Asia and the Western Balkans.
In her remarks to the participants of the programme, the Parliamentary Secretary noted that at the time when COVID-19 has altered our lives in many different ways, it is important to be underlining the importance of education and access to it. These challenging circumstances require new solutions and innovative approaches. Considerable work has been invested in digital solutions to enable the implementation of this programme so that trainees from partner countries could receive comprehensive knowledge on the principles of the functioning of the EU and share in Latvia’s experience.
Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica thanked the Riga Graduate School of Law, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, the University of Latvia, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs and the European Institute of Public Administration for their contribution to the implementation of the training programme, as well as international partners – Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States of America – for their support.
The eight-week online Intensive Programme will bring together young professionals representing public administration, civil society and the academic sector in 20 partner countries in the EU’s Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, the Western Balkans, and the Middle East.
Background information
The Intensive Programmes in European Law and Economics has been implemented by Riga Graduate School of Law since 2016, and the school has also been running the three-month Advanced Programme since 2014.
The programmes are partly financed from the development assistance policy funds earmarked in the budget of Latvia and with financial contribution from the governments of the United States America and Norway. In earlier years, support for RGSL programmes has also been provided by Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
More than 369 participants from 19 countries have graduated from the Advanced and Intensive Programmes since 2014.
