What it Takes to Host top EU Officials in Prague

A look behind the scenes of the Prague Congress Centre

It is 10am on a September sunny Monday in Prague and the Forum Hall of the Prague Congress Centre is in turmoil. A team of technicians is wiring up dozens of giant TV screens, 50 microphones and cameras, running around the hall laying kilometres of cables. Six completely soundproof interpreter booths are being equipped with state-of-the-art sound technology and also air quality sensors. At the same time, several security and pyrotechnic squad officers and a specially trained dog trace every corner of the vast congress space to make sure the venue is perfectly safe and all security measures are in place. In a couple of hours, they all will be gone, replaced by more than 500 police and security officers, inhouse catering staff and several fire brigades. The polished-up hall decorated with national flags will fill up with ministers and politicians from all EU countries joining one of the many meetings under the EU star flags. Welcome to the Prague Congress Centre, a unique venue which hosts most of the events within the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year 2022.

Watch the sun set over Prague castle during the congress

It has already been three months since the Czech government took over the Presidency and since then hundreds of important figures from the world of European politics and economics have visited the iconic congress venue in the centre of Prague. And thousands are still to come until the end of the year. But the Prague Congress Centre is used to hosting top events and so is its team led by a very energetic woman CEO, Lenka Žlebková. “The biggest advantage of the PCC building is our location close to the historic centre of Prague but at the same time perfectly accessible via underground. In fact, the main attraction is surely the breath-taking view of the sun setting over the Prague castle panorama directly from the centre foyer,” Lenka explains. And when the sun sets and congress is over, the Vyšehrad historic park is right behind the corner, and so is the Holiday Inn hotel with its Esprit restaurant.

A great asset of the PCC and one of the reasons it was selected for the EU summit is the way the building is divided into three separable sections with 11 entrances. Thanks to the flexibility of the building, it is not necessary to limit normal congress activities even in times of the presidency which requires extremely strict security measures. Small meetings, concerts, major international scientific or businesses congresses, all of them can run smoothly in parallel in the Prague Congress Centre.

Presidency with sustainability in mind

"We have a lot of experience in hosting important international events. Our team hosted the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, NATO summit and the events during the first Czech Presidency in 2009. Everybody knows exactly what it takes to prepare such an event for any client, be it the head of state, scientist or a top manager," adds Lenka. The motto of the Czech Presidency is "Europe as a Task: Rethink, Rebuild, Repower". The theme of sustainability rings the bell at PCC, too. "We strive to become the leader in adoption of new technologies, hybrid congress solutions and most recently in hosting environmentally sustainable events," concludes Lenka Žlebková.