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Course map / Unit 9
Unit 09 Organisations and meetings

Teams, meetings, and chain of command

Participate in structured meetings, report decisions accurately, and describe inter-agency roles without confusion.

MeetingsUse of EnglishVocabulary
Frontex focus eu-LISA, CEPOL, and clear role boundaries
01
Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit

  • Use reported speech with the correct backshift.
  • Open, manage, and close a short meeting.
  • Explain the roles of training and IT-system agencies.
02
Meeting note

A decision everyone can repeat

The chair begins by defining one objective: restore access to the training environment without exposing operational data. The eu-LISA liaison explains that the live system is unaffected. A CEPOL trainer confirms that the exercise can continue with a temporary offline scenario.

Before closing, the chair repeats the decision, action owner, and deadline. The minutes record what each specialist said and clearly separate confirmed facts from proposed actions.

03
Language focus

Reported speech and meeting control

When reporting a past statement, backshift the tense when the time perspective changes. Meeting chairs state purpose, control turns, summarise decisions, and assign actions.

Direct

The system is available now.

Reported

The technician said the system was available.

Action close

To summarise, Ana will update the list by 17:00.

Watch this

Do not backshift a fact when it is still generally true and the present meaning matters.

04
Core lexicon

Professional and operational vocabulary

chain of command

the formal line through which authority and reporting pass

The concern was escalated through the chain of command.
chair

lead and control a meeting

The duty manager chaired the review.
action point

a specific task agreed during a meeting

The minutes list three action points.
minutes

the formal written record of a meeting

The approved minutes were circulated that afternoon.
seconded staff

employees temporarily assigned from one organisation to another

The team includes seconded national officers.
From EPSOHQ Frontex database

Acronym focus

eu-LISA EU agency for large-scale IT systems in freedom, security, and justice

Use for the EU agency managing large-scale IT systems in this field.

CEPOL EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training

Use for the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training.

05
Production task

Chair a two-minute review

Evaluated speaking 4 criteria · 20 points

Open a meeting, invite one update, manage a disagreement, and close with two action points.

  • State one meeting objective.
  • Use reported speech in the summary.
  • Assign an owner and deadline to each action.
About 120 seconds · 130–230 words Open evaluated task