“10 years in the EU – Taking stock and assessing prospects”

Central European University, Budapest
Auditorium

April 14-15, 2014

May 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the Central European states’ accession to the European Union, a historic achievement these countries had been striving for since the change of their regimes. The conference serves to take stock of the developments of the Central and Eastern European countries’ first ten years in the EU: what were the benefits and costs of the EU membership up until now for the acceding countries and how the membership changed the mindset and policy practices of the respective countries.

We have the honour to welcome such outstanding speakers at the conference as László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and Peter Friedrich, Minister for European and International Affairs in Baden-Württemberg and others.

While the conference provides a forum for discussing and evaluating the experiences of the ‘new member states,’ it also attempts to assess the prospects of the upcoming years, with a special focus on the region, in light of the new multi-annual financial framework, the upcoming European Parliament elections and the nomination of the new European Commission.

April 14 (Monday), 2014

Opening remarks
     John Shattuck, President and Rector of the Central European University
     Jan Niklas Engels, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest

Keynote speeches
     Tamás Szűcs, Head of the European Commission Representation in Hungary
     Péter Balázs, Director of CENS, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, former EU Commissioner for Regional Policy

Panel I. - Benefits and costs of EU membership
Panel II. - Social changes and migration

April 15 (Tuesday), 2014

Keynote speech
     Peter Friedrich, Minister for European and International Affairs in Baden-Württemberg

Panel III. - From Euro-optimism to Euro-skepticism?
Panel IV. -  The future of the European Union

Please find the detailed program attached.

Contact person: Zsuzsanna Végh
RSVP until April 11, 2014, at veghzs@ceu.hu

The conference is organized with the kind support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Budapest.