The role of trainees during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU and the involvement of the staff of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU in public administration after the Presidency.

Bc. Daniel Houdek

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The aim of this thesis was to comprehensively analyse the role of the interns at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, including their job description, workplace relations and many other aspects. Furthermore, the aim was to find out whether these interns were interested in working for the Czech public administration after the end of their internship and whether the public administration made efforts to recruit these interns as future employees. The theoretical part of the thesis is focused on the description of the functioning of the European Union and its institutions, the activities of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic in Brussels and the role of the Presidency. It also deals with the division, definition and description of different types of traineeships in the European institutions, including traineeships at the Permanent Representation during the Presidency. In the practical part, basic research methods of inquiry are applied, which are structured interviews with interns and diplomats from the Permanent Representation and questionnaire surveys where the respondents were interns. These methods are then evaluated and the results obtained show that interns played a very significant role at the Permanent Mission and essentially represented the work of full diplomats. At the same time, during their traineeship they have accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience in all aspects, to the extent that a large number of them can be considered experts on the agenda. Furthermore, the results of the survey indicate that the public administration made no effort to recruit these experienced and capable trainees as future employees, despite the fact that the vast majority of trainees were interested in working in the public administration. The thesis also details the advantages, disadvantages, benefits and shortcomings of the internships studied. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the findings and the use of the potential of the internship by both the interns and the public administration.

Keywords

European Union, Council of the EU, Presidency, EU, role of trainees, Permanent representation, trainees in EU, public administration, CZPRES, Czech presidency

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 3. 4. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 29. 5. 2024
• Supervisor: Ing. Pavel Kotyza, Ph.D.
• Reader: Filip Lameš, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Master programme:
European Agrarian Diplomacy