This event will be live broadcasted on this page
The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS, Brussels), in cooperation with the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), the Fundación Euroárabe and Open Society Foundations, will be hosting an in-person think tank forum ahead of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada.
Launched at Prague last October, the EPC is meant to provide a platform for unscripted strategic discussions between heads of state or government of more than 40 European countries in a variety of settings: a leaders’ plenary, thematic roundtables and smaller mini/bilateral discussions. After a successful second summit in Moldova, the initiative seems to be gaining momentum. Given the stress that the European security order is under, lingering tensions around irregular migration, and the ambition of some participants to use the EPC as a vehicle to sign off on connectivity projects, the Spanish Presidency will be keen to show concrete deliverables at the third EPC summit.
Absent a final communiqué, the EPC’s political legitimacy depends on transparently documenting initiatives taken at the leaders’ level and monitoring their policy implementation. CEPS has recently created a sustainable, civil society-driven observatory (https://epc-observatory.info) that supports the current and upcoming presidencies and members of the EPC, as well as the general public, in (p)reviewing summits, detecting and analysing emerging trends, and tracking the implementation of initiatives and specific deliverables agreed to in the context of the EPC.
The aim of the accompanying think tank forum is to engage 20 independent experts from across Europe and key Spanish policymakers in a discussion on the issues that will define the future of the EPC. It will also draw the attention of the press and the general public in Spain to the EPC’s value added and future potential.
PROGRAMME
09.30 – 09.45 Welcome and introduction
Antonio Sánchez Ortega, Executive Secretary, Fundación Euroárabe (Granada)
Pol Morillas, Director, CIDOB (Barcelona)
Steven Blockmans, Director of Research, CEPS (Brussels)
09.45 – 10.00 EPC Presidency priorities
Álvaro Imbernón Sáinz, Director of Policy Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation of Spain
10.00 – 11.00 Security
- Impulse: Oana Popescu Zamfir, Executive Director, GlobalFocus Center (Bucharest)
11.00 – 11.30 Coffee/tea
11.30 – 12.30 Migration
- Impulse: Barbara Lippert, Director of Research, SWP (Berlin)
12.30 – 13.30 Connectivity
- Impulse: Krisela Hackaj, CEO, Ardian Hackaj, Director of Research, CDI (Tirana)
13.30 – 13.45 Concluding remarks
Héctor Sánchez Margalef, Researcher, CIDOB (Barcelona)
Mariana Berbec-Rostas, Open Society Foundations (Berlin)
