DO Newsletter: September/October Issue 2009

Paul Reiderman, Director, Council of the EU

Paul Reiderman is a Director (DG Agriculture) at the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU. He has been working as a EU negotiations trainer for the Development Office since 2005.

‘Participants learn without being conscious about it’

What is an EU negotiation process?

You could describe it in several volumes of books… But to describe it in a few words: The EU negotiation process is the meeting place between a set of rules and an administrative and political culture. This unique culture breathes life into the rules.

Could you give us an example from your fields of expertise, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and foreign policy?

These are two very different fields of activity because of the different sets of rules, but the political and administrative culture has elements of commonality. Foreign policy is decided by unanimity – the CAP, like most other policy fields, by qualified majority voting. That leads to a completely different negotiating dynamic. But – in both cases – the strength of the negotiators depends not only on the country they are coming from but also on their capacity to act as an active negotiator by learning, listening and applying the lessons learnt.

Are these three qualities that make a good negotiator?

These are for sure three important components. Learning can be done through reading and observing. Listening is a key element in identifying your allies and adversaries. And applying means using skills to navigate within the negotiation in order to achieve the best outcome.

Is it the practice or the learning experience that is more important, or both?

I am always surprised about how many people who have spent half of their career or more in negotiations are not automatically good negotiators. So it is certainly a skill that can be enhanced later in your career and is not necessarily something that you learn through doing. There is an element of self-reflection and coaching in it.

Is it therefore so important for civil servants and businessmen to understand EU negotiation processes?

Training constitutes a very good basis for understanding and doing. For civil servants and businessmen, the EU negotiating process is a key component of their working lives. Civil servants have to know how European or national decisions are made because it has a direct impact on their work. Similarly, people in the businessworld cannot escape European regulation – and they are often the actors who encourage it. Negotiating skills help them define and influence the business landscape. So understanding negotiations is as critical for them as map-reading would be for an explorer.

How does a participant of your workshop acquire the negotiating skills?

They learn by doing – or rather by playing. We give them the framework and negotiation instructions which include as many elements of reality as possible. The aim is to go beyond the classroom lecture type environment: people are not only an audience but become negotiators. They learn sometimes without being conscious that they are learning – just by plunging themselves into the simulation!

What kind of ‘mistakes’ should be avoided?

Too many to mention! But I would not speak about mistakes but rather things to remember: First of all: know what you want. It is surprising how few people, before going to a meeting, try to understand what they want from it. Secondly, identify ways to get there. And thirdly, develop the negotiating dexterity and flexibility to adapt to a dynamic negotiating environment.

How do the players get to the results?

Like in the real world, there are big Member States and small ones, countries with a big interest in the negotiation and others whose interest is less strong. But in our simulation, there is more than one axis to the process: interests of producer or consumer countries, net contributors and beneficiaries from the budget, etc... We always try to involve all the players. So everybody has an interest, but not everybody’s interest is the same. Identifying bigger players that share the same agenda as you is part of the skill.

Why did you decide to lecture on negotiations for the Development Office?

When I was approached by the College of Europe I had already found that the best way of understanding things myself was to explain things to others: It forces me to take a step back from my daily work and analyse it in a more systematic and strategic way. But, frankly, the other factor which motivates me is to have the chance to step outside the rather closed world of the EU institutions and meet people from a wider variety of backgrounds, all of them highly motivated, and take part in a unique learning experience for them and for myself.

So, it’s a win-win-situation in a way?

Yes, it’s a perfect negotiation!

Thank you.

The interview was held by Cordula Singer on 6 October 2009.