Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 The European Union – A Resurgent Power?

Description

NOTE: Interest in this event is very strong. As a free event, seating is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Overflow spaces will be provided to accommodate audience members beyond the capacity of the main conference room.

A live webcast of this event will be available starting at 6:30 p.m. at: https://hosting2.desire2learncapture.com/MUNK/1/Live/438.aspx

Join us on Europe Day for a discussion of the past, present, and future of the European Union featuring a panel of distinguished international experts.

Introductory remarks by H.E. Peteris Ustubs, European Union Ambassador to Canada

Panel moderated by Prof. Carolina de Miguel Moyer, University of Toronto

Ambassador Peteris Ustubs began his posting as the European Union’s top diplomat in Canada in September 2017. Prior to his arrival in Canada, he served as Americas Senior Advisor in the Cabinet of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission. Ambassador Ustubs has held senior positions with the European External Action Service (EEAS), including as Director for West and Central Africa. Prior to that, he was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Andris Piebalgs, former European Commissioner for Development. Ambassador Ustubs joined the Latvian diplomatic service in 1993 and served as the Representative of Latvia to the Political and Security Committee of the EU, the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister and Under-Secretary of State – Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

H.E. Ferdinando Nelli Feroci is President of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). A diplomat from 1972 to 2013, he was Permanent Representative of Italy to the European Union in Brussels (2008-13), Chief of Staff to the Minister (2006-08) and Director General for European Integration (2004-06) at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously, he served in New York at the United Nations, in Algiers, Paris and Beijing. He also served as Diplomatic Counsellor of the Vice President of the Italian Council of Ministers (1998). In June 2014 he was appointed to the post of European Commissioner in the Commission chaired by Manuel Barroso to replace Antonio Tajani, a position he held until the end of the mandate of the Commission on November 1, 2014. Formerly a Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (1985-86), and Visiting Professor at the Istituto Universitario Orientale of Naples (1989), he is currently a professor at the School of Government of LUISS, Rome. He is the author of many articles and essays on international relations, European affairs and political affairs.

Dr. Daniela Schwarzer is Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. She previously was an executive team member of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, serving as GMF’s senior director of research and heading GMF’s Berlin office as well as its Europe program. Prior to this she spent eight years at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), where she led the research group on European integration from 2008 to 2013. During this time she advised Poland and France during their respective EU Council presidencies, served as a consultant to the Centre d’Analyse Stratégique for the French prime minister, and was a member of the “Europe” working group of the Whitebook Commission on Foreign and European Policy. Before joining SWP, she worked as an opinion page editor and France correspondent for Financial Times Deutschland.She has held a senior research professorship at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC/Bologna since 2014 and was a Fritz Thyssen Fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 2012–13. She taught for several years at the Hertie School of Governance and has lectured at the Collège d’Europe in Bruges, the Institute of European Studies of Macau, and the Universität Salzburg. In addition, she serves on the advisory boards of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris and is a non-executive board member of BNP Paribas.

Szabolcs Takács is the State Secretary for European Union Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office of Hungary. The State Secretary comprehensively supervises the European Union issues in the Hungarian Government. He represents Hungary in the General Affairs Council. Prior to this position, he served as the Deputy State Secretary for Security Policy (Political Director) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He also served as the Deputy State Secretary for Global Affairs between 2012 and 2013, and as Director General of the Asia-Pacific Department between 2011 and 2012. Between 2005 and 2009 he was the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Hungary in Doha, Qatar and prior to that worked at the Department of Asia-Pacific since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002. He specializes in the Western-Balkan and Asia-Pacific regions. From 2015 to 2016 he chaired the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an organization of 31 countries.

Ambassador Theodoros N. Sotiropoulos served in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1977, most recently as Permanent Representative of Greece to the European Union from 2009 to 2014. His numerous other roles have including posts in Bulgaria, Germany, Canada (as Consul General in Toronto from 1989 to 1993), and as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna from 2003 to 2007.