The Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe, Bruges campus, with the financial support of the European Commission, has organized an afternoon session of public high-level lectures on the European Neighbourhood Policy and challenges in the EU's broader neighbourhoods on Friday, 10 October 2014 (14:30-17:30), followed by a Q&A session and a reception. The conference language was English and French (no translation provided).
With the entry into force of the new financial instrument of the European Neighbourhood Policy–the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI)–in 2014, the European Union is equipped to effectively implement the revised ENP approach defined in 2011 (See: ‘The Commission sets out cooperation priorities for the Eastern and the Southern Neighbourhood for coming years, IP/14/977, 08/09/2014). This new approach is based on a reinforced conditionality (‘more for more’) and increased differentiation and mutual accountability between partners. Within the framework of this new phase, cooperation will ‘focus on promoting enhanced political cooperation, deep and sustainable democracy, progressive economic integration and a strengthened partnership with societies between the Union and the partner countries and, in particular, the implementation of partnership and cooperation agreements, association agreements or other existing and future agreements’. (Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument, OJ L77, 15.03.2014, p. 27.)
In light of recent developments in countries like Libya, Syria, Iraq or Ukraine, it is fitting to launch an in-depth reflection on the emergence of a new ‘arc of crisis’ in the EU’s immediate and broader neighbourhoods. One of the key questions that needs to be addressed is how the EU can elaborate a new comprehensive strategy aimed at stabilizing and developing its broader neighbourhood by meeting the various challenges of the regions at hand. The speakers covered three regions: the Maghreb, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
About the speakers
| Dr Fouad M. AMMOR is Professor of International Relations and has worked extensively on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership as well as on defense and security issues. He is the national coordinator of the Tempus Programme in Morocco and an executive member of the Groupement d’Études et de Recherches sur la Méditerranée (GERM) as well as a member of the EuroMeSCo network. He is, since 1998, the socioeconomic counsellor to the Cabinet of the Moroccan Minister of Social Development, Solidarity, Employment and Professional Training. Furthermore, he is a member of the Expert Advisory Group – European and South Mediterranean Actors (EAG) of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Among his various publications are: ‘Morocco in the world economy’, ‘Le partenariat euro-méditerranéen à l’heure de l’élargissement: perception du Sud’, ‘Le Futur du Dialogue Méditerranéen de l’OTAN : pour un Dialogue Méditerranéen “Plus”?’. Dr Fouad M. AMMOR holds a PhD from the Faculty of Law of the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University Fes and a superior study diploma in Economy of Development of the University Muhammed V in Morocco. |  |
| Dr Roman PETROV is Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy since 2010. He taught the very first Jean Monnet Module on EU Law in Ukraine at the Donetsk National University. He conducted post-doctoral research as Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) and was awarded research visiting fellowships at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), the University of Oxford (UK) and others. Dr Roman PETROV is the author of one of the first Ukrainian textbooks on EU Law and he is active in publishing in recognized peer-review journals. He is the founder and first elected President of the Ukrainian European Studies Association. His areas of research and teaching are: EU Law, EU Business Law; EU External Relations Law; Approximation and Harmonisation of Legislation in the EU; and Legal Aspects of Regional Integration in the Post-Soviet Area. Professor PETROV frequently provides consultancy to state institutions in Ukraine, including the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the Ministry of Justice. |  |
| Mr Salam KAWAKIBI is Deputy Director of ARI (arab-reform.net) and President of the Initiative for a New Syria (insyria.org). He holds postgraduate degrees in economics, international relations and political science, is Associate Researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Studies and Documentation and Associate Professor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. From 2000 to 2006 he was Director of the Institut français du Proche Orient (IFPO) in Aleppo, Syria. From 2009 to 2011, he was Principal Researcher at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Mr Salam KAWAKIBI is member of the Consultative Council of Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly (MCA). He has published numerous essays in edited volumes and specialized journals in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and German. Topics include human rights, civil society, migration, media, North-South relations, and political reform. |  |
