EuCET CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

EuCET

CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

The leadership of the European Union supported by the European Parliament decided to launch a wide inclusive debate on the future of the European Union. As the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said: “I want Europeans to build the future of our Union. They should play a leading and active part in setting our priorities and our level of ambition. I want citizens to have their say at a Conference on the Future of Europe, to start in 2020 and run for two years.” (A Union that strives for more – My agenda for Europe 16 July 2019).

The European Union Civil Cooperation Council which comprises civic organisations from some ten countries strongly support this initiative and they want to contribute to this debate by organising a conference at 15-16 October 2021 in Budapest.

The conference will address the problems of the current functioning of the European Union and will try to find solutions and to give alternatives. The main questions to be discussed were the role of the different institutions of the European Union, the meaning of subsidiarity in practice, the competences of Commission and the member states. Emphasize were put on the economic, social and identity preconditions of further integration. In the course of the conference we would oversee the earlier debates and documents on the European integration including the debates in the 1970s (the Werner, Marjolin and MacDougall reports), De Gaulle’s imagination, the Fouchet plan, and the main debated questions on the 2002-2003 European Convention not missing the scenarios of the White Paper on the Future of Europe by the Commision in 2017.

The lecturers of the conference will be experts asked for this purpose and the lectures will be followed by debates giving floor to as many participants as possible.

The preliminary program of the conference is the following:

Friday 15.10.2021

09.00-12.00 Conference Part I

12.00-13.30 Lunch break

13.30-18.00 Conference Part II with a coffee break

18.00-19.00 Break

19.00-21.00 Dinner together

2021.10.16 Saturday

09.00-11.00 Summary, discussion of material to be uploaded on the EU website

11.00- 13.30 Press conference

There will be simultaneous interpretation between English and Hungarian and Polish and

Hungarian.

Vanue of the conference:

Hotel Benzur

Benczur utca 35, Budapest, 1068, Hungary

Large hall on the ground floor of the Benczur Hotel

How to get there:

From Liszt Ferenc airport

1) Taxi (appr. 30 euros)

2) Public transport

Bus to the centre, Deák tér (Deák square) Bus number 100 E (appr. 3 euro)

Take Metroline No 1 in the direction of Mexikói út and get off at Bajza utca (Bajza street, 6th stop) Buy ticket at metro station! Price for a one way ticket is appr. 1 euro.

You are cordially invited.

Would you so kind to indicate your intention to participate by email: info@eucet.hu