A PASOS/EUROPEUM Conference
under the auspices of
Hon. Karel Schwarzenberg,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Venue:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Cernin Palace
Loretanske namesti 5, 118 00 Praha 1
Czech Republic
09.00 - 18.30, Monday 20 October 2008
(Conference Languages: English and Czech with simultaneous translation)
----- For registration and hotel information, see attached (Word) file. Please send registrations to:
Eva Rybková
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Audience and participants:
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Czech and EU officials, Czech and international media, international think-tanks, international foundations, diplomatic missions.
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Policy papers to be presented and distributed on the following themes:
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European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership, Visegrad Four countries' democracy assistance policies and priorities.
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This conference has been financially supported by the European Affairs Information Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, and by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) of the Open Society Institute (OSI):
(Speakers are subject to change - agenda last updated 16 October 2008)
08.30-09.00 Registration and coffee
09.00-09.15: Opening remarks
Pavlína Bartoňová, Director, European Affairs Information Department, Office of the Government, Czech Republic
David Král, Director, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS)
09.15-09.25: Welcome Address
H.E. Richard W. Graber, US Ambassador to Czech Republic
09.25-09.45: Introductory speech
Tomás Pojar, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Czech Republic
09.45-10.10: Introductory Panel and Q&A: How the EU under the Czech Presidency Must Tackle Three Big External Relations Challenges - EU-Russia relations, the Eastern Neighbourhood, and the Western Balkans
Moderator:
Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS)
Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ukraine
Markus Meckel, MP, Bundestag, Germany
Juliana Nikolova, Executive Director, European Institute, Bulgaria
A. EU ENLARGEMENT POLICY
10.15-11.40
PANEL I WESTERN BALKANS
Can EU membership transform a trouble-spot into a prosperous region?
- How will the Lisbon Treaty ratification process affect the prospects of further EU enlargement?
- Can the Czech EU Presidency mediate between Greece and Macedonia to facilitate a NATO membership action plan for Macedonia?
- What scope exists for the Czech EU Presidency to assist with the Western Balkans' accession prospects?
- How effective has the western Balkans EU enlargement roadmap been to date, and how can more progress be made on visa liberalisation?
- How might a new US Administration work with the Czech and Swedish Presidencies on Euro-Atlantic integration?
Moderator
Aaron Presnall, Jefferson Institute, Serbia
Panellists
Katarína Richtáriková, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Ilona Teleki, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA
Zhidas Daskalovski, Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Macedonia
Nadya Dimitrova, European Institute, Bulgaria
Tija Memisević, European Research Center, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Filip Tesař, Institute of International Relations, Czech Republic
11.40-11.50: Coffee break
11.50-13.00
PANEL II SERBIA AND KOSOVO
Separate ways, common trajectory?
- Can the emergence of a new pro-EU government in Serbia be built upon to put Serbia on track for EU membership and for maximising the opportunities of security co-operation through NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme?
- Can the Czech Presidency effectively use the window of opportunity after the Serbian parliamentary elections to foster much stronger EU financial support to Serbia and Kosovo in terms of economic development, democratic reforms, and investment?
- How can the EU assist Belgrade and Pristina find a common space for dialogue?
Moderator
Vladimír Bartovic, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
Panellists
Josef Zrzavecký, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Jelena Milić, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Serbia
Luan Shllaku, Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS)
Shpend Ahmeti, Institute for Advanced Studies, Kosovo
Vladimir Todorić, political scientist, Serbia
Verena Knaus, European Stability Initiative (ESI)
13.00-14.00: Buffet lunch
(13.15-13.45: Launch of Democracy’s New Champions, a PASOS study into the democracy assistance policies, spending, and geographical priorities of the Visegrad Four countries)
14.00-15.20
PANEL III TURKEY
The longest-standing candidate, the highest hurdles?
- What is the prospect that the outstanding chapters of EU acquis will be re-opened?
- What implications do the internal arguments between the judiciary and the AKP (on headscarves, on constitutionality of AKP as a political party) have on the EU accession prospects of Turkey?
- Could the change after the Cyprus presidential elections represent a turning-point in Turkey-Cyprus relations?
- Will a strong Erdogan government be capable of continuing in the reforms sought by the EU on improving human rights and freedom of expression?
- What scope exists for the Czech EU Presidency to assist with Turkey's accession prospects?
- How might a new US Administration change US policies towards Turkey?
Moderator
Dace Akule, Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Latvia
Panellists
Pavel Svítil, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
David Král, EUROPEUM Institute for Public Affairs, Czech Republic
Özgür Ünlühisarcikli, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Nathalie Tocci, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Italy
Nigar Göksel, Turkish Policy Quarterly/European Stability Initiative (ESI)
Lucia Najšlová, Research Centre of Slovak Foreign Policy Association
15.20-15.35: Coffee Break
B. EU RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA AND THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD
15.35-17.00
PANEL IV EU-RUSSIA RELATIONS
Is Russia a strategic partner - or a rival intent on dividing Europe?
- With the deterioration of EU-Russia relations, will any new enhanced partnership agreement just be a fig-leaf to conceal the wide gap between the interests of the EU and Russia?
- Are there prospects for a common EU approach to Russia on key questions - energy security, Caucasus, Iran - or is the EU too divided? If so, what are the reasons underpinning their divisions?
- Does the EU have either the political will or the hard power to forge, let alone implement a common foreign and security policy towards Russia (without explicit US involvement)?
- What should be the priorities for the EU-Russia summit during the Czech Presidency?
- Can the Czech Presidency raise human rights and democracy questions in connection with Russia?
- How can a new US Administration work with the Czech Presidency to strengthen US and EU co-ordination on energy policy towards Russia?
- Can the Czech Presidency improve co-ordination between EU and NATO concerning Russia?
Moderator
Jiří Schneider, Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI), Czech Republic
Panellists
Representative (tbc), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Tatyana G. Parkhalina, Centre for European Security, Russia
Michael Emerson, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels
Oksana Chelysheva, Foundation to Promote Tolerance (Nizhny Novgorod), Russia
Alexander Duleba, Research Centre of Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Petr Kratochvíl, Institute of International Relations, Czech Republic
17.00-17.15: Coffee Break
17.15-18.30
PANEL V BLACK SEA/CAUCASUS
Models for EU engagement in building peace and democracy in the region
- Are opportunities for EU-US co-operation sufficiently taken up in the Caucasus, Ukraine, and Moldova, not least after the Russia-Georgia crisis?
- How can the EU and US work together to solve the "frozen (and unfrozen) conflicts" of the region, and how much can the Polish-Swedish Eastern Partnership initiative serve to increase stability in the region?
- How can relations between the EU and Russia be shaped to foster mutual dialogue without bypassing the legitimate concerns of individual Black Sea countries?
- Does the EU accession of Bulgaria and Romania provide scope for greater EU strategic engagement in the Black Sea region, and how can this be given shape?
- Is democratic reform in the region still high enough on the agenda of the EU and US, and what can be done to consolidate democratisation efforts?
- Can the Czech EU Presidency push a breakthrough on liberalising EU visa relations with the Black Sea countries?
Moderator
Luboš Veselý, Association for International Affairs (AMO), Czech Republic
Representative (tbc), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Kalman Mizsei, EU Special Representative for Moldova
Nicu Popescu, European Council on Foreign Relations
David J. Smith, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, USA/Georgian Security Analysis Centre
Olga Shumylo, Adviser to Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Ukraine
Alexander Rondeli, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS)
Jacek Kucharczyk, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland
