The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the European Union, its member states and neighbouring countries is the latest stress test on Europe’s solidarity. After initial failures to respond to the COVID-19, the EU bounced back and is currently playing a key role in the management of, and the recovery from, the pandemic. Its future is shaped by actions the member states are willing to take individually and collectively in the months and years to come. What are the key political trends shaping the debate on EU solidarity and the future of Europe, across Europe? How is EU solidarity perceived in Italy, Finland, and Brussels?

This event marks the publication of the book European Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals (2021), edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak and Paul Schmidt.

The webinar is organised in cooperation with the European Parliament and the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA). It is co-funded by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union.

You can register for the webinar here.

More information can be found here.

Bahcesehir University and Turkish-German University are delighted to host co-editor Ebru Turhan and valuable authors of "EU-Turkey Relations: Theories, Institutions, and Policies” to discuss their book. Together with Felix Schenuit, Michael Kaeding contributed to the book with a chapter "The European Parliament’s Perspective on EU–Turkey Relations" and participates to book discussion as speaker.

This book discussion will take place online via zoom.

20. December 2021 - 14h30 (Berlin Time)

Meeting ID: 812 7861 9754

Passcode: 657354

You can find the Book "EU-Turkey Relations: Theories, Institutions, and Policies” as open access here.

How did a stubborn pro-European country even during soviet regime, turned into disillusioned member state and mild promoter of European solidarity?

In the framework of the upcoming book “Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak and Paul Schmidt, TEPSA co-hosted a debate on December 6 at 15:30 CET. The event focused on Southern Member States’ views on European Solidarity. In partnership with the Institute of International Relations in Prague, this event featured contributions from:

• Petr Kratochvíl, Senior Researcher, IIR, Prague,
• Michael Kaeding, Co-Editor, “Fututre of Europe” Book Series,
• Catharina Sørensen, Deputy Director, Think Tank EUROPA, Denmark
• Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Professor of International Relations, Sabancı University

Solidarity is one of those peculiar political notions that have gained an entirely original meaning in the context of Czech politics. Together with “rule of law” or “EU values” it has become to be seen as part of the moralizing rhetoric of the “old” elites in the EU. In this interpretation, which has become dominant in the Czech politics discourse, solidarity ceased to be a symbolic practice expressing the EU’s political unity and was turned into a tool of division, making solidarity a predominantly negative notion.

This event took place in the framework of the upcoming publication of TEPSA’s new book: “Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, which will focus on solidarity in action and is edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak, and Paul Schmidt. Coming soon via Springer.

In the wake of numerous European crises, Solidarity has become a key watch-word of the European Union. Through the ongoing pandemic, debate over what ‘Solidarity’ means for Europe, and specifically over what it means to EU Member States, has gained a new momentum.

In this context, TEPSA is organising a debate to answer: what has the EU learned from COVID-19 in terms of solidarity? To what extent has the EU been successful in finding common interest among its Member States? How can the main persisting divides be overcome?

On November 8 at 13:00 CET, TEPSA will host a debate on “EU Solidarity under stress”. The talk, moderated by Michael Kaeding, an eminent expert on European affairs and Honorary TEPSA Board Member, will bring together four expert speakers: 

• Guy Milton, Head of Unit, Analysis and Research Team, Council of the European Union,
• Sophie Pornschlegel, Charlemagne Prize Fellow, European Policy Centre,
• François Roux, Senior Advisor on European Affairs, EGMONT,
• Assoc. Prof. Steven Van Hecke, KU Leuven.

Faced with challenges like the asymmetrical impact of the global financial crisis or the arrival of many asylum-seekers, the EU has attempted to find a consensus on which way to move forward together in solidarity. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented ‘’Next Generation EU’’ package was agreed to help foster a sustainable economic and social recovery from the pandemic. Nevertheless, some divides within the EU have also deepened over the course of the COVID crisis, such as on the Rule of Law and other core European values.

REGISTER HERE

This event takes place in the framework of the upcoming publication of TEPSA’s new book: “Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, which will focus on solidarity in action and is edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak, and Paul Schmidt. Coming soon via Springer.

During the last decade Europe has experienced a financial and a migration crisis, as well as a pandemic, all of these showing the importance of European solidarity.

⏰ Two weeks left: 📢 Apply by 6 August 2021 for the Master's program European and International Affairs at the Turkish-German University (TGU) in Istanbul! 🇹🇷🇩🇪🇪🇺

The program will start in October. Applicants can be assured that TGU is closely monitoring the current pandemic and that different forms of remote education will be provided for the upcoming term.

Learn more about the application process and requirements here.

On 1 July 2021, Portugal will hand over the Presidency of the Council of the EU to Slovenia, which will hold its reigns for the second time since its accession to the EU in 2004. During the next six months, the Slovenian Presidency will have to sail through troubled waters to address some of the most pressing EU issues, such as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of the European Green Deal, the digital agenda and EU’s relations with its external partners. To scrutinise the priorities and challenges of the Presidency, TEPSA and its Slovenian member institute, Centre of International Relations (CIR) – University of Ljubljana, will digitally host the Slovenian Pre-Presidency Conference on 17 and 18 June 2021.

Prof. Dr. Michael Kaeding will host the second day of the Slovenian Pre-Presidency Conference on 18 June 2021.

Differentiated Integration and the Future of Europe (panel organised in the framework of the InDivEU project)

To what extent is the Conference on the Future of Europe a viable scenario for European reform: what do people and governments want?

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Michael Kaeding

Jean Monnet Professor ad personam, University of Duisburg Essen, Visiting Professor, College of Europe Bruges, TEPSA Member

Keynote: Dubravka Šuica Vice-President of the European Commission, Democracy and Demography

Speakers:

Dr. Sandra Kröger Member of the InDivEU project and Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter

Dr. Matteo Bonomi Assistant Project Coordinator of the EU IDEA project and Research Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali, TEPSA Member

Dr. Magdalena Góra Member of the EU3D project and Project Researcher, Institute of European Studies of the Jagiellonian University, TEPSA Member

For more information and registration please click here. 

After a series of guest lectures by professor Michael Kaeding and professor Jing Men, given at both University of Montenegro and the partner university - University Donja Gorica, students from undergraduate and master programs from Faculty of Economics (UoM) and Humanistic Studies (UDG) had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss interesting topics with guest lecturers. 

The Q&A session was organized on Friday, May 14 at 8.30 am and hosted by prof. Danijela Jaćimović, prof. Nikoleta Đukanović and Sunčica Rogić. Students have shown interest for the relevant topics of EU institutions and relations between China and the European Union, while prof. Kaeding and prof. Jing gave comprehensive answers and discussed them with students from two Montenegrin universities. 

Q&A participants discussed various topics with prof. Kaeding, such as: consequences of Brexit for the EU coherence, challenges that EU is facing nowadays, as well as the position of Turkey in regard to the EU, which was a continuation on the lecture prof. Kaeding gave to the students last month. 

Professor Jing talked about the priority sectors that will be in the focus in the coming period in China; how can EU and China work together on issues of environmental protection and climate change; how the vaccine for Covid-19 affects the EU-China relations and what is the expected future of this relationship. 

More information can be found here.

Professor Michael Kaeding gave a lecture titled "Legislative decision-making: How the EU institutions interact" to students at Univeristy Donja Gorica, Faculty of Humanistic Studies. Students from Enlargement Policy of EU class, together with Nikoleta Đukanović, lecturer at University Donja Gorica took part in the online guest lecture, organized on April 22, at 6pm. This marked the start of the second set of guest lectures organized within The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence project at this partner university.

Professor Kaeding, from the Department of Political Science of the University of Duisburg-Essen, explained how the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council interact in the decision making process, while highlighting the difference between certain decision areas in regard of various competences, according to which EU is allowed to act.

More information can be found here.

Professor Michael Kaeding from the Department of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, will be giving an online guest lecture to students of International Economics, Undergraduate programme on April 22th, 2021, 11,00 am CET, as part of the class organized by Professor Danijela Jacimović and Sunčića Rogić. Followed by the Q&A section, 14th May, 2021.

More information can be found here.

On Friday, April 16 at 8 am, professor Michael Kaeding from the Department of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, gave an online guest lecture to the students from undergraduate studies at University of Montenegro, Faculty of Economics, enrolled in the International Economics course. The topic of the lecture was "The Future of Europe and external differentiation: EU agencies, the Western Balkans and Turkey". 

Following this lecture, a second online guest lecture will be given by professor Kaeding on Thursday, April 22, and a Q&A session with students from both undergraduate and graduate studies from University of Montenegro and University Donja Gorica will be organized on May 14.

More information can be found here.

Join our Online Panel Discussion organized by the International Relations Department at #WVPU, with leading experts and insiders who will share their analyses of the emerging political role of the European Commission:

Prof. Frédéric Mérand (PhD Berkeley), director of CÉRIUM at the University of Montreal whose new book The Political Commissioner: A European Ethnography – based on four years of research embedded in the Cabinet of the Commissioner Pierre Moscovici - will be published by Oxford University Press in June 2021.

Prof. Dr. Martin Selmayr, Head of the European Commission’s representation in Vienna and former Chef de Cabinet of European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker whose chapter entitled “Origins and Functioning of the Political Commission: An Assessment from Inside the Juncker Commission’s Machine Room” was published in a volume by Nomos recently.

Moderator: Prof. Dr. Jozef Bátora

Please RSVP by sending an e-mail to office.director@webster.ac.at

Dial-In Information

ZOOM link: https://zoom.us/j/94780626232  

Wednesday, April 14 at 5:00pm to 6:30pm

On Tuesday, April 13 at 5 pm, professor Michael Kaeding from the Department of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, gave the first lecture to the students from graduate studies at University of Montenegro, Faculty of Economics. The topic of the lecture was "The Future of Europe and external differentiation: EU agencies, the Western Balkans and Turkey" and 13 participants took part.

More information can be found here.

Join the online debate: “Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe – views from the capitals” organised by the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and the Political and Governance Studies Department of the College of Europe.

This debate will be an occasion to present TEPSA’s most recent publication of its book series aiming at bringing the Member States perspectives on the theme of solidarity, touching upon several areas, from COVID-19 to economy and migration. During the debate, three of the authors of the book will present their chapter and open a broader discussion with participants on the role of solidarity in the future of Europe.

The event is moderated by Prof. Michael KAEDING, (TEPSA, College of Europe, Duisburg-Essen University and as from Feb-Oct. 2021, IPC Mercator Fellow), editor of the book series, with the participation of the Rector of the College, Federica MOGHERINI, and the interventions of:

• Juha JOKELA, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA, Finland) and TEPSA;
• Eleonora POLI, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI, Italy) and TEPSA;
• Ramunas VILPISAUSKAS, from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science – Vilnius University (Lithuania), and TEPSA.

The event will take place on WebEx on Friday, 26 February, from 14:00 to 15:30. 
For more information and registration please click here.

Conscious of the democratic importance of the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe and in order to foster a dialogue between European scholarship, policy-makers and civil society, the European Legal Studies Department and the European Political and Governance Studies Department of the College of Europe, together with the European Law Journal, are pleased to announce the joint organisation of a High-Level Interdisciplinary Conference on THE FUTURE OF EUROPE due to take place in Bruges on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 January 2021. 

The event will involve practitioners, academic experts and representatives from the civil society and will be live-streamed upon registration.

The papers presented at the conference will be published in special issues of the European Law Journal, edited by Dr CAUNES.

Within the framework of this conference, Prof. Michael Kaeding will hold a presentation on his chapter "Differentiation and the Future of Europe. The Potential Role of EU Agenciesas a Substitute Mechanisms in a Differentiated European Union".

For more information on the programme, please click here.

The conference will take place in a fully digital format. Registration for online participation (open to the public) is required before before 25 January 2021.

More information: Valérie HAUSPIE

Am 28. Januar findet die 6. Auflage des landesweiten Wettbewerbs „NRW debattiert Europa“ statt. NRW debattiert Europa ist ein vom Jean-Monnet-Lehrstuhl für Europäische Integration und Europapolitik der Universität Duisburg-Essen inszeniertes Projekt für Universitäten aus NRW, an denen Bachelor- und Master-Studierende die Möglichkeit haben, das Europa der Zukunft zu diskutieren und im Wettbewerb gegeneinander anzutreten.

• EU-Finanzmittel aus Gemeinschaftsanleihen sollten nur an Mitgliedsländer vergeben werden, die rechtsstaatliche Prinzipien einhalten.
• Das Schließen innereuropäischer Grenzen sollte auch in Krisenzeiten nicht zulässig sein.
• Die Europäische Union soll allen Bürgerinnen und Bürgern ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen garantieren.

Diese Themen werden in Vorrunde, Halbfinale und Finale von den Teams aus den Universitäten Aachen, Bochum, Düsseldorf, Münster, Wuppertal und Duisburg-Essen diskutiert.

Die große Abschlussveranstaltung findest dieses Jahr online statt. Um sich für das Finale am 28.01.2021 anzumelden, würden wir Sie bitten, eine Mail mit Ihrem Vor- und Nachnamen an info@nrwdebattierteuropa.eu zu schreiben. Daraufhin erhalten Sie von uns eine Liste mit den Links zu allen Debatten sowie das Programm, das Sie durch die Veranstaltung führt.

Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter www.nrwdebattierteuropa.eu

On January 26, an online workshop will be held as part of a new book project. In this workshop, the newly upcoming anthology "Is Europe back in the driver's seat? The Union at a Turning Point" by the editors Oliver Costa and Steven Van Hecke will be presented.

Prof. Michael Kaeding will hold a presentation on his chapter "Higher Voter Turnout at the Cost of Representativeness? The 2019 European Election against the Background of Socially Distorted Turnout."

You can find the program of the online workshop here.

Although the European Parliament elections in May 2019 did not mark the victory of populist forces across Europe, Euroscepticism still represents a significant challenge to the EU-policy making process. Trying to face the rise of this phenomenon, TEPSA and the European Student Think Tank are pleased to organise a presentation of the book “Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”. The event will take place online on Friday 22 January, at 16:30 CET.

The event will address which are the actual challenges Euroscepticism poses to the EU, and will provide the Polish perspective on the matter. Furthermore, this initiative aims to create a fruitful dialogue between participants and speakers on how the youth can get engage to counter Euroscepticism in member states and at the EU level. The event will be moderated by Pierfrancesco Maria Lanza, EST International Officer, and will count with the participation of the following panellists:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Kaeding, co-editor of the book and professor of European Integration and EU Politics at University of Duisburg-Essen.
• Prof. Natasza Styczyńska, co-author of the chapter of the book focusing on Euroscepticism in Poland, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakòw. She has also contributed a TEPSA Explainer on the topic of Euroscepticism in Poland with her co-author Zdzislaw Mach.

You can register here, and follow the event here.

This event marks the publication of the book Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak and Paul Schmidt. Eurosceptic parties are in government across Europe, and they have considerable influence over the national debate. “Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals” maps and analyses this phenomenon across the continent. Over 40 authors have given their expert views on Euroscepticism in the EU, in neighbouring countries, and in candidate countries. “Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals” is a political travel guide, taking you on a tour through the political diversity of Europe. You can purchase the book here.