In advance of this summit, the European Commission has published a Strategy on the Western Balkans, which outlines six specific initiatives that aim to support the transformation of the Western Balkans and prepare the European Union for future enlargement.
Building on the recent experience of the Estonian Presidency in the Council of the EU, Deputy Minister Maasikas reflected on issues which will have an impact on the EU27 post-Brexit, such as negotiating the next MFF period and institutional change.
Prof. Bénassy-Quéré will discuss recent attempts by leading academics from France and Germany to overcome the differing approaches towards EMU reform in both countries.
The upcoming Italian general election could be crucial in shaping European politics. In his address to the IIEA, Luigi Scazzieri dicussed the outcome of the Italian election, and its implications for Italian politics and for the future of European governance. Mr Scazzieri analysed whether the next Italian government be one of the engines of reform, in partnership with France and Germany, or if Italy will become a spoiler, and make it more difficult for ambitious reforms to materialise.
About the Speaker:
Luigi Scazzieri is a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He works on European foreign and security policy, focusing on policy towards the Middle East, Russia, and transatlantic relations. He has conducted research at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). He holds an MA from the University of Cambridge, an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MA from King’s College London. Mr Scazzieri is the author of several publications for CER and Euractiv, and a frequent media commentator on European affairs.
Professor Kooths argued that after five years of strong economic growth, the German economy is at risk of overheating. German companies have expressed concerns that they are close to productive capacity and the German economy last year surpassed its potential growth rate of about 1.5 per cent for a fourth consecutive year. Professor Kooths argued that there is a risk that policymakers will misallocate resources into spending programmes, which could lead to inflation, whereas the economy requires structural reform.
About the Speaker:
Stefan Kooths holds an MSc (1993) and a PhD (1998) in economics from the University of Münster in Germany. He joined the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in 2010. Since 2014, he has been Head of the Forecasting Center, the Institute’s macroeconomic think tank and business cycle analysis unit. In 2013, he was appointed Professor of Economics at the University of Applied Sciences Europe in Berlin, where he initiated Europe’s first Master Program in Entrepreneurial Economics.
In his address to the IIEA, Minister Santos Silva presented the Portuguese vision for the future of Europe. Within the context of a renewed impetus for reform of the European Union, the Minister outlined the Portuguese Government’s priorities in an EU of 27 Member States.
About the Speaker:
Augusto Santos Silva has had a distinguished political career spanning two decades. He has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since November 2015. He previously served as Minister of National Defence from 2009-2011 and as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs from 2005-2009. He also served as Minister of Culture from 2001-2002 and as Minister of Education from 2000-2001. He has held his seat in the Portuguese Assembly since October 1995. He received his PhD in Sociology from Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE) in 1992 and his BA in History from the Universidade do Porto in 1978, where he later served as Dean from 1998-1999.
In his address to the IIEA, Gerald Knaus argued that an effective EU policy on borders and asylum is possible, but the first step is a serious debate on what has worked and what has failed.
Dr Adriaan Schout will offer an assessment of the official Dutch EU narrative and of the emerging EU-critical counter narrative that influence the debate on the future of the EU in the Netherlands.
Piotr Buras will explore the sources of Poland’s current attitude towards the EU and how the new Polish European policy will impact on relations with the country’s key partners.
Following a succession of political crises in several countries of the Western Balkan region, the EU has put forward a series of initiatives aimed at reconfirming the perspective of EU accession for the region.
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