2018

In November 2018, CENS and the Budapest Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung collaborrated to organise a conference to discuss the legacies the First World War at the centenary of its ending. The following publication summarizes the discussion and all participants' contributions in the form of conference proceedings.

Radu, Bogdan Mihai and Zselyke Tofalvi (eds.) - The nation state in contemporary Europe: the centenary of WWI. New chances for historical reconciliation. [Download]

2017

In the second half of 2017, we at CENS had the great privilige to collaborate with our partners at the Budapest Office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung to host and co-organize a series of events on key issues of contemporary European politics. This enabled us to assemble leading international experts to discuss "Old and New Engines" of the post-Brexit EU (9th October), "The State of Democracy in Europe" (6th November) and "The Future of EU Governance" (22nd November). 

In addition highly insightful debates during the keynote lectures, panels and roundtables, our speakers have articulated their key thoughts and arguments in short papers, which we are happy to share here as the FES-CENS Paper Series 2017.

Old and New Engines: Shifting Power and Strategic Alternatives for EU and V4 after Brexit? - 9th October 2017

Against the backdrop of Brexit, the EU is transforming and seeking to address key challenges like the refugee crisis, reforming the Eurozone or formulating a policy towards Russia. This conference sought to evaluate the role of old and potentially new motors of European integration in this process. What will be the future formats that are most likely to shape the European Union and what does this mean for the future direction of EU policy?

Colomina, Carme - Spain and EU's post-Brexit realignments: A New Core Role for Spain [Download]

Kirch, Anna-Lena - EU unity first, strategic visions second – Germany’s EU coalition building after the Brexit referendum  [Download]

Nagy, Tomas - Old and New Engines: Shifting Power and Strategic Alternatives for EU and V4 after Brexit [Download]

Stuchlikova, Zuzana - The Role and Status of the Visegrad Countries after Brexit: the Czech Republic [Download]

Szymanska, Jolanta - Shifts in Poland’s alliances within the European Union [Download]

Whitman, Richard - Shifting Power and Strategic Alternatives in post Brexit Europe: perspective on the UK [Download]

The state of democracy in Europe. Comparative retrospection and cautious prognostics - 6th November 2017

This international conference focused on how democracy performs within the EU. Both democratic practice and discipline have changed immensely since the so-called third wave of democratization, and the speakers in this conference discussed how recent political events within the EU – such as the refugees’ crisis, Brexit, the crafting of illiberal democracy – affect the main tenets of democratization, as formulated in the 1980s and 1990s, in order to adjust theory to practice.

Whitehead, Laurence - The state of democracy in contemporary Europe  [Download]

The future of EU governance: the challenges of multi-speed Europe - 22nd November 2017

This international conference analyzed experiences and lessons of existing two-speed structures (Euro, Schengen) and discussed further potential initiatives with special regard to security, migration, competitiveness and the rule of law.

Bilcik, Vladimir - Slovakia and post-Brexit EU [Download]

Kokot, Michal - Poland`s foreign policy: on the path to multi-speed Europe [Download]

Michelot, Martin - The Unbearable Heaviness of Being – a core member of the EU [Download]