PPC Conference

Date: Thursday 13 and Friday 14 June 2024.
Venue: HUN-REN Centre for Economics and Regional Studies – Institute of World Economics
4. Tóth Kálmán Street, Budapest, H-1097, Hungary

CLICK HERE FOR THE CONFERENCE AGENDA

Participation in this event is free but registration is compulsory via the following link: https://forms.gle/E7EcMU3PNMgc4T6N7

On 1 July 2024, Hungary will take over the reins of the Council of the European Union, holding the Rotating Presidency for the second time since its accession to the European Union twenty years ago, in May 2004.

In 2024, the year of European elections, a new Strategic Agenda, a new Commission mandate, as well as new and continuing challenges facing the European project, bridging the gap between policy-makers, academics, and citizens has never been more important.

To discuss the aims and priorities of the incoming Hungarian Presidency, as well as the crucial files needing attention in the EU, the HUN-REN Centre for Economics and Regional Studies – Institute of World Economics and the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) are co-organising the Hungarian Pre-Presidency Conference (PPC): “Changes and Challenges in the European Union”.

The Hungarian PPC takes place on 13-14 June 2024 in Budapest and will host policymakers to meet with key stakeholders and the wider public. The conference will feature high level discussions between researchers from the TEPSA Network, members of the public including students and civil society representatives, and key policymakers from the Hungarian government.

The second semester of 2024 will be a crucial moment for reflection on the past achievements, present challenges, and future prospects for the European project. This is why our conference will focus on a number of key thematic areas. In the first plenary session, the Recommendations from members of the TEPSA network will be presented and discussed. Meanwhile, our parallel sessions will cover such themes as competitiveness, EU financing, enlargement, and migration, in addition to one session evaluating the results of the European elections, which take place on June 6-9, and another reflecting on the twentieth anniversary of the 2004 enlargement round. Finally, the last plenary session will take stock of the EU’s geopolitical challenges and consider the future of security and defense in Europe.

On the occasion of the Hungarian Pre-Presidency Conference, TEPSA will also present recommendations to the incoming Presidency. These recommendations for part of a long history of interaction between TEPSA and the Council Presidencies, starting with the first Pre-Presidency Conference. They will be circulated to key policy-makers in the Hungarian Ministries, and discussed in depth at the PPC. The recommendations from members of the TEPSA network to the incoming Hungarian Presidency will be published soon.

This Pre-Presidency Conference is organised by the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and the HUN-REN Centre for Economics and Regional Studies – Institute of World Economics. The event is co-funded by the European Union in the framework of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme. The event is in cooperation with the Hungarian Economic Association, Videoton Holding and Grawe Insurance.

Hashtag: #HungarianPPC

Videos of the plenary sessions

Recommendations from members of the TEPSA network to the Hungarian Presidency

Photo gallery

Agenda

DAY 1 (13 June, Thursday)

10.00 – 12:00:		TEPSA Board Meeting
13.30 – 15.00:		Plenary Session I:
		Opening remarks: Jim Cloos (TEPSA, Secretary-General) Magdolna Sass (IWE HUN-REN CERS, Director)
		Panel Discussion: TEPSA Recommendations Balázs Molnár (State Secretary, Responsible for the Presidency) Nicoletta Pirozzi (Istituto Affari Internazionali, Head of Programme on European Union and Institutional Relations Manager) online Richard Youngs (Carnegie Europe, Senior Fellow)
15.00 – 15.30:		Coffee Break
15.30 – 17.00:		Parallel Sessions:
		Session 1: Competitiveness of the EU and Member States Gergely Baksay (Hungarian National Bank, Executive Director, Hungarian Economic Association) Anita Pelle (Szeged University, Head of Institute of International Economics, Jean Monnet Chair) Michele Chang (College of Europe, Director of the Transatlantic Affairs Programme) Marco Siddi (Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Leading Researcher) Moderator: Professor András Inotai (Prof. emeritus, Institute of World Economics, HUN-REN CERS)
		Session 2: Results of the EP elections, evaluation András Bíró-Nagy (HUN-REN CSS Institute for Political Science, Senior Research Fellow) Ilke Toygur (IE Global Policy Center, Director) Erik Jones (European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre, Director) Enikő Győri (Member of the European Parliament) Moderator: Michael Kaeding (University of Duisburg-Essen, Professor)
17.15:		General Assembly (Delegates only)
19.00:		Dinner (Delegates and Presenters only)

DAY 2 (14 June, Friday)

9.00-10.30		Parallel Sessions
		Session 3: The Future of the EU’s Enlargement Policy Anna Orosz (Hungarian Institute for International Affairs, Research Director) Danijela Jacimovic (University of Montenegro, Professor) Karlis Bukovskis (Latvian Institute of International Affairs, Director) Yuriy Yakymenko (Razumkov Centre, President) online Moderator: Funda Tekin (Institut für Europäische Politik, Director)
		Session 4: Migration, demography Vera Messing (Centre for Social Sciences, Sociology Institute, Director) Jean-Louis de Brouwer (Egmont Institute, Director) Eugenia Kopsidi (European Law & Governance School, Resident Lecturer) Giorgi Khishtovani (Research Director at PMC Research Center) Moderator: Jaap de Zwaan (TEPSA, Honorary Board Member, Erasmus University Rotterdam)
10.30 – 10.45:		Coffee Break
10.45 – 12.15:		Parallel Sessions:
		Session 5: 20 Years in the EU Petr Kratochvíl (Institute for International Relations Prague, Full Professor) Boštjan Udovič (Centre of International Relations, University of Ljubljana, Deputy Head) Lucia Mokra (TEPSA, Chairperson of the Board; Comenius University in Bratislava, Dean) Éva Palócz (Kopint Tárki Institute, General Director; Hungarian Economic Association, Vice-President) Moderator: Boglárka Koller (Ludovika University of Public Service, Jean Monnet Chair, Head of Dept for European Studies)
		Session 6: Convergence, EU-finance and budget, development István Benczes (Institute for World Economics HUN-REN CERS, Corvinus University, Professor) Louise van Schaik (Clingendael Institute, Head of Unit EU & Glopbal Affairs) Ákos Kengyel (Corvinus University, Jean Monnet Chair, Professor) Miklós Losoncz (Budapest Business University, Professor) Moderator: Zsolt Becsey (former Member of the European Parliament; Ministry for National Economy State Secretary, Hungarian Economic Association)
12.15 – 12.30:		Coffee break
12.30 – 13.45:		Plenary Session II: Geopolitical challenges, security of the EU
		Anna Molnár (Ludovika University of Public Service, Head of Department International Security Studies) Magdalena Góra (Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University, Associate Professor) Luigi Scazzieri (Centre for European Reform, Senior Research Fellow) Gunilla Herolf (Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Senior Associate Research Fellow) Moderator: Pernille Rieker (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Research Professor)
13.45 – 14.00:		Concluding remarks: Lucia Mokra, TEPSA, Chairperson of the Board
14.00:		Sandwich Lunch

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