The Estonian Foreign Policy Institute/ ICDS together with the Representation of the European Commission in Estonia and Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) are organising a conference ‘European Parliament Elections 2019: A Shake-up of EU Politics?’ on 3 May 2019 at 8:30-13:00 at Vabamu (Okupatsioonide ja Vabaduse Muuseum, Toompea 8, Tallinn, Estonia).
The European Parliament (EP) elections in 2019 have been named as “the most decisive elections on the future of Europe” as well as a “referendum on Europe”. The political debates before the elections uncover some of the underlying trends and challenges shaping European politics today. The aim of the conference is to have a better grasp of the state of play in different member states and discuss the future opportunities and challenges of the European Union (EU).
Programme
08:30 Registration
09:00 Welcome words
Keit Kasemets, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Estonia
Kristi Raik, Director of Estonian Foreign Policy Institute/ICDS
09:15 Panel “European Parliament Elections in the Member States”
What are the main topics and issues in the upcoming European Parliament elections? How high is the interest towards European Parliament elections? What role does the EU play in domestic debates? How do national parties relate themselves to the EP political groups?
Manuel Müller, Institut für Europäische Politik (Germany)
Julie Hamann, Deutsche Gesselschaft für Auswärtige Politik (Germany)
Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, Blogger on EU Affairs (Poland)
Moderator: Gustaf Antell, World News Correspondent, Yle
10:45 Coffee break
11:15 Panel “What kind of European Parliament to expect?”
What is the likely make-up of the EP after elections? Will the dominant role of the two largest political groups (EPP and S&D) be replaced by more fragmentation and more populism? How will the expected changes affect the workings of the EP and the EU at large? How likely is it that the Council will agree to the Spitzenkandidat who won the election? How will the upcoming elections feed into the debates on the future of the EU?
Petros Fassoulas, European Movement International (Belgium)
Maïa de La Baume, Politico Europe (Belgium / France)
Tuomas Iso-Markku, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (Finland)
Moderator: Piret Kuusik, Estonian Foreign Policy Institute/ICDS
12:45 Conclusion
13:00 Lunch
Click here to find out more about the speakers.
Registration to the event has ended.
Contact:
Piret Kuusik, Junior Researcher of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute/ICDS
piret.kuusik@icds.ee
+372 6 949 336
