Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The aim of the Secretariat is to ensure that Latvia prepares, in due time and quality, for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015 and, within its competence, to coordinate the work during the Presidency.

The Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is an institution of direct public administration subordinated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was established on 1 February 2012.

In accordance with its bylaws, the Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union coordinates:

• the preparation of the presidency priorities;
• the formulation of the Latvian part in the joint Trio Presidency 18-month programme and the Presidency's six-month work programme;
• the preparation the Presidency Activity Plan and time schedule;
• administrative, logistics, financial and security matters related to the organisation of the Presidency in order to enable joint events and other processes of the Presidency in Latvia and abroad;
• the drawing up of the cultural programme and its implementation in Latvia and abroad;
• the drawing up of the public relations and communication programme and its implementation in Latvia and abroad.

The Secretariat carries out the following tasks:

• coordinates the work of public institutions in the matters of the preparation and management of the Presidency, by cooperating with public officials delegated by the public institutions;
• in running the Presidency, cooperates with public institutions, social partners, non-governmental organisations, physical and legal entities;
• coordinates devising decision making procedures for the preparation and execution phases of the Presidency;
• in association with ministries, the State Chancellery and the School of Public Administration, coordinates the planning, recruitment and training of the Presidency staff;
• in association with the ministries and the State Chancellery, evaluates the plan of measures, activities and financial means for running the Presidency; sums up and prepares the total cost estimate, as well as producing a report on the process and expenditure of implementing the measures and activities;
• applies the required procedures and carries out procurements to enable the organisational activities of the Presidency;
• coordinates cooperation with international and non-governmental organisation, social partners and businesses to attract co-financing for events or services;
• coordinates the events in Latvia, also dealing with matters related to receiving delegations, security and transportation, and provides support when the Presidency events are organised abroad;
• coordinates the setting up of a national scale information system required for the Presidency operations and a uniform computer network for the work with the European Union documents;
• ensures premises and equipment for the needs of the Secretariat;
• makes an estimate of the funding required for the Secretariat's operations and the implementation of the planned events, as well as being answerable for the use of the Secretariat's funds;
• on behalf of the state, enters into deals under private law in order to ensure the Secretariat's operations;
• carries out other tasks, as laid down in laws and regulations.