This year, the NATO COE LEGAD Workshop was attended by over 40 participants from 16 NATO nations who represented 17 NATO centres of excellence, five ministries of defence, the US European Command (USEUCOM) and one of the two NATO strategic commands – HQ SACT.
The Workshop served as a forum for exchanging best practices and lessons learned between legal advisors, financial controllers and Human Resources (HR) Managers of NATO centres of excellence. Although the event was primarily intended for legal advisors, with one day dedicated to HR Managers, the presence of financial controllers (FINCONs) was highly beneficial for discussions in both panels.
The topics of the Workshop included adaptation of the NATO Command Structure and its possible impact on COEs, the issue of a COE’s legal personality, best practices of drafting and staffing Memoranda of understanding and Notes of Joining. Furthermore, alternative COE formats as well as privileges and immunities in different framework nations were discussed. The HR part of the event focused on generic principles of HR Management in NATO, procedures and approaches towards internships and Voluntary National Contributions, the NATO code of conduct, COE staff training and job descriptions.
The Workshop was inaugurated by the NATO MP COE’s Deputy Director, MAJ Karsten BROMM, who warmly welcomed the participants and wished them fruitful deliberations, while the closing remarks were delivered by the NATO MP COE’s Director, COL Grzegorz WASIELEWSKI. The Director, in his speech thanked the participants for their involvement in creating the community of interest for LEGADs and FINCONs representing NATO COEs. He emphasized the importance of support given by the LEGADs and FINCONs to their directors in the daily COE administration and operation. He concluded with stressing the significance of interoperability and exchanging best practices both within NATO nations and the NATO Centres of Excellence.
In 2019, the Workshop will be co-organised by the NATO Stability Policing Centre of Excellence in Italy.