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Event report available
The Roundtable titled: "The European Union’s next enlargement: prospects and pitfalls” was organised by Elcano Royal Institute, Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), Embassy of Slovenia in Spain and Fundación Carlos de Amberes on the 19 November, 2021.
The event was a Hybrid one, on-site participants were invited while for the live stream on YouTube, on-line attendance registration was not required.
The event was held in English without simultaneous translation.
In the context of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the purpose of this event is to discuss the prospect of the Balkan countries to join the EU. This event includes the participation of government officials who are responsible for the European integration policy of Spain, Slovenia and several candidate countries, as well as academic experts in the field.
Agenda of the Roundtable:
9:30 Greetings and introductory remarks:
Miguel Ángel Aguilar, President, Fundación Carlos de Amberes
Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute | @CharlesTPowell
Robert Krmelj, Ambassador of Slovenia to Spain
Maciej Popowski, Acting Director-General at the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission
9:45 to 10:45: First Session - Presidency European Union enlargement under the Slovenian presidency and beyond
Juan González-Barba, State Secretary for the European Union, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation of Spain | @JuanGBarba
Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary, Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Nikola Dimitrov, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia | @NDimitrovMK
Jadranka Joksimović, Minister of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia
Megi Fino, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs at Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania | @MegiFi
Ljubomir Mišurović, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro
Moderator: Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute | @CharlesTPowell
10:45 to 11:45: Second Session - The EU’s daunting enlargement dilemmas
Florian Bieber, Coordinator, Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group | @fbieber
Ivan Vejvoda, Acting Rector, Institute for Human Sciences | @IVejvoda
Vesko Garcevic, Professor, Boston University; former ambassador of Montenegro to NATO | @VeskoGarcevic
Peter Grk, Secretary General of Bled Strategic Forum
Ruth Ferrero, professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid | @RFT2
Moderator: María Solanas, Director of Programmes, Elcano Royal Institute | María_SolanasC
11:50 Closing remarks by Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute
Fundación Carlos de Amberes,
Claudio Coello, 99, Madrid, Spain
Claudio Coello, 99, Madrid, Spain
Event report
The roundtable under the title: “The European Union’s next enlargement: prospects and pitfalls” took place on Friday, 19 November 2021 in from 09:30 to 12:00 h. CET (UTC+1) at the Fundación Carlos de Amberes, in Madrid, Spain.
The Roundtable was streamed live and is available on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TLqlvffLc
There were approximately 70 number of invited participants who followed the Roundtable at the location, while there were 59 live stream views and 358 persons who have watched the video until 23 November 2021.
The debate took place between government officials and top academic experts in the field to discuss the dilemmas and opportunities of the EU’s next enlargement.
The panellists expressed their views regarding the agenda in relation with EU Enlargement in the Western Balkan region (WB) and on the other hand the dilemmas on the side of the accession countries.
The panellists agreed that the EU’s Enlargement to the countries of WB should remain on top of the EU agenda.
The discussion developed further by a deeper analysis of the possible reasons that could have brought about the “Enlargement fatigue” and tried to identify possible solutions.
During the discussion is became evident that the EU’s Enlargement to the region of WB, is a difficult process due to sometimes discrepant interests of member states and lack of commitment, while on the other hand the potential candidates of membership of the Union, seems to be lacking ambition and political will to push their countries towards the membership.
The overall concluding remarks seemed to be directed towards the EU accepting a more proactive and strategic role in the region, while on the other hand mentioning the need of propelling the political will and interest of the accession countries towards joining the EU.
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19
November
09:30 - 12:30
Number of participants
70
Reference: cofe-MEET-2021-11-90587
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