CEU Center for EU Enlargement Studies (CENS), the Embassy of France in Hungary, the Rectorate, and CEU Department of International Relations and European Studies (IRES) hosted a public lecture on 24 January 2013 entitled “France and the EU”. The lecture was delivered by H.E. Mr Roland Galharague, French Ambassador to Hungary, to a distinguished group of diplomats, ambassadors, students and university professors.

Ambassador Galharague centered his presentation around three pillars in regards to the European Union’s current state of affairs: 1) WHAT the EU is doing to strengthen the Union and what its main priorities today are; 2) WHY the EU needs certain measures to overcome the crisis; 3) HOW the EU can overcome it. In the first part of his speech, Mr Galharague explained what the nature of the economic crisis is, and mentioned the importance of strengthening the monetary union in order to overcome the crisis. One of the key tasks is to adopt the budget for the next seven years (2013-2020), and to stay involved with the rest of the world through the Commercial and Common Security and Defense policy of the EU. In the second part of the presentation, His Excellency emphasized the three reasons due to which the EU must stay unified: globalization; the monetary union, single market and the euro; and history which taught Europe a lesson for not being united in the past. Finally, he underlined that the EU can do this only by respecting all the member states, and by respecting the EU itself and all its institutions.  

The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session touching upon a variety of issues, ranging from the French-Hungarian relations, the EU enlargement process, to the current French involvement in Mali.

The lecture was chaired by Péter Balázs, Director of CENS and former Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs.