On 17 November 2016, The College of Europe and the European University Institute organised their second Annual Joint Academic Committee and joint conference on “Differentiation: A new pragmatism or the end of ever closer union?” at the College of Europe in Bruges.
The conference examined, from the perspective of different disciplines, whether it is feasible or desirable for smaller groups of Member States to act alone to address the problems that Europe is currently facing. What are the consequences? Is cooperation among fewer Member States more effective or does it contribute to unraveling the European Union? Are small groups of willing Member States able to act without undermining the single European market and weakening the fundamental freedoms on which it is based?
Each session of the conference addressed the nature of possible differentiation, identified likely consequences and considered their impact on the evolution of the EU. One session focused on the developments concerning the negotiations with the UK.
Conference programme
The position papers written by the speakers and the summaries of the proceedings are now accessible in a single document: "CoE-EUI Conference on Differentiation. Papers and Summaries".
This conference was open to the public.
For more information, please contact Thibault ROY.
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