Agenda
10:00 - 11:30 OPENING PLENARY SESSION: Brexit and EU Citizenship
Moderation: Petar Markovic, executive director of the ECIT Foundation
Speakers:
● Dr. Iordan Gheorghe Bărbulescu – President of the SNSPA’s Senate
● Dr. Victor Negrescu, Vice-Rector of SNSPA, Former RO EU Minister, Former MEP
● Dr. Dan Grigorescu – Scientific Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization
● Ms. Jane Morrice, Vice-President of EESC
● His Excellency Andrew Noble – Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Romania
● Ms. Suzana Carp – Board member of ECIT and European Alternatives
● Mr. Tony Simpson – Permanent European Union Citizenship, ECI
● Short introductions on the current state of EU citizenship and future prospects especially in light of the current political developments: Brexit, the run-up to the European elections, Romanian Presidency. Question time with the participants.
● Suggested questions for debate – What is the level of public understanding of EU citizenship? What is the relationship with national citizenship? What are the main barriers to the practice of European rights and how can these be overcome? Can EU citizenship become a theme for the European elections? How does Brexit effect this debate and what are the implications of those on the Romanian perspective in the country and among its mobile citizens?
11:30 - 11:45 Coffee break
11:45 - 13:00 Workshop 1 - Romanian dimension of Brexit EU citizenship beyond the EU
Moderation: Ms. Suzana Carp, Board member of the ECIT Foundation and European Alternatives
● Ms. Victoria Nedelciuc – President of the Director Council, Centrul pentru Inovare Publică
● Ms. Cosmin Bârzan – Director of the Civic Resource Centre
● Ms. Alexandra van Westernhagen – New Europeans
● Dr. Mihail Caradaică – SNSPA
● The European Citizens’ Initiative on Permanent European Citizenship is currently collecting signatures throughout the EU requesting the Commission to propose means to avoid the risk of the collective loss of EU citizenship and rights, and assure all EU citizens that, once attained, such status is permanent and their rights acquired. In addition to promoting this ECI to the Romanian public, this workshop aims to discuss the tools at the disposal of citizens and decision-makers in their fight for the preservation and expansion of European citizenship. A special emphasis will be put on the Romanian perspective on this, stemming from its experience before membership, during the transitional period and after, including its citizens’ pronounced interest in active participation manifest in the number of signatures for ECI as well as the activist image its citizens residing both in the country and other member states have carved out.
13:00 - 13:45 LUNCH BREAK
13:45 - 14:30 Exploratory Workshop lead by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization: Redefining the borders in a multi-speed Europe - reflections on cultural and societal challenges in South-Eastern Europe
Moderation: Dr. Vlad Nistor, Member of the Scientific Council of IASLCC, former President of the Senate of the University of Bucharest, former General Director of the Romanian Diplomatic Institute
● Dr. Ecaterina Lung, University of Bucharest
● Dr. Daniela Zaharia, University of Bucharest
● Dr. Carol Căpiță, University of Bucharest
● Dr. Petar Markovič, Executive Director of the ECIT Foundation
● Dr. Mihail Dobre, University of Bucharest and State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
● Ms. Margareta Arsenescu, Chief Commissioner, Minister of Internal Affairs
● Dr. Cezar Bîrzea - SNSPA
● Brexit reopens the debates, both on the economic and political boundaries, as well as on the social, legal, and cultural frontiers. This context generates new horizons of analysis and reflection for the Eastern European countries, which experienced the democratic exercise for almost three decades. The concept of Multi-speed Europe requires to rethink not only the institutional functioning of the EU, but also the integration mechanism into the union. At the same time, new challenges are emerging such as the populism or the manipulation of the ethnic, cultural, and the religious differences. In this respect, the role of the EU Members and candidate countries is growing, especially the role of those countries located in areas having a long tradition of multi-ethnic cohabitation, such as South-East European region.
● Suggested topics for debate – Brexit and the Common Values of the Europe Union; East or West? Cultural Identity and Security Risks in East Europe; The external dimension of Justice and Home Affairs; Forms of Soft-Power Diplomacy – Redefining the Borders through Educational Cooperation; Brexit challenge and the need for (re)defining the European project (identity, vision and limitations).
14:30 - 15:15 Participatory Workshop – EU Citizenship in Practice
Led by dr. Dan Carbunaru, the Director of Calea Europeana & dr. Petar Markovic on behalf of the Institute of European Studies (ULB, Brussels), the European Alternatives and the ECIT Foundation
● Political rights are part and parcel of European citizenship. Year 2019, therefore, provides all EU citizens with the opportunity to practice their citizenship by taking part in the elections for the European Parliament. The first half of the workshop will introduce the Transeuropa Caravans project (TEC2019) aiming to mobilize EU citizens across more than 15 member states.
● Secondly, the audience will have a chance to given their input to the transnational debate in the run-up to the EP elections. As part of the Open EU Debate project, the Institute of European Studies of Université libre de Bruxelles is planning to host a series of debates with lead candidates (or Spitzenkandidaten) before the 2019 European elections. In efforts to foster a truly transnational debate, participants would be guided to discuss and come up with questions that would be posed to the candidates in the debate series that will be launched in Brussels on 20 March 2019.
15:15-16:00 Closing session Q&A
