Warsaw European Conversation
At Polityka Insight and ECFR, we believe there is an urgent need to engage in a critical conversation about the risks and trends shaping the European project. For this reason, we invite you to join forces, and participate in the Conversation on issues preoccupying the community today, and awaiting it tomorrow.
Hybrid event
During the Conversation we want to pay attention to the role that Poland plays and will play in Europe. Once a year, around Europe Day in May, we remind ourselves and you that nothing in the EU is a given or eternal, rather, the integration process needs to be constantly nurtured.
We want to hold our Conversation in Warsaw. The last nineteen years of Poland’s membership in the EU have been a good time for the Union. However, it does not mean that Europe will inevitably remain stitched together forever. Brexit serves as an important warning. Nor is the great enlargement of 2004 a closed and finite process. Its success also affects subsequent enlargements, which we hope will take place in the future. The level of Euro-enthusiasm of the Polish public is encouraging, but public moods have a way of being capricious and unpleasantly volatile.
Diverse interests are constantly clashing in Brussels, but often there is not enough time or attention to understand where the differences come from and their importance in the various countries of the community. Distances between capitals and complicated historical relations have traditionally divided and differentiated European nations from each other. We want to provide a space that enables participants and prominent Europeans to engage in a critical Conversation made available to the media to foster a better understanding of Europe in Poland and Poland in Europe.
This year we want to talk about the sovereignty of the community and its members, the challenges posed by the energy, climate, and digital revolutions, and the prospects for European economies in the context of technological, social, demographic, and geopolitical changes. We also want to discuss politics in member states, as it is there that European politics are forged. Additionally, we will consider transatlantic politics – the security of the continent and the world, as well as the future of neighbouring countries, which in the long term are needed by the community to ensure its survival, development, and secure future. We are convinced that such a space for an engaging and critical Conversation on Europe is much needed today.
We invite you to create the Warsaw European Conversation with us. The full agenda is available at the conference’s website.
Agenda
Europe’s Zeitenwende: How the war has changed the EU (9:30-10:45)
- Thomas Bagger – Ambassador to Poland, Germany
- Christian Danielsson – Secretary of State, MFA, Sweden
- Mujtaba Rahman – Managing Director for Europe, Eurasia Group
- Kristi Raik – Deputy Director, International Centre for Defence and Security
- Moderator: Piotr Buras – ECFR Warsaw, Head of Office
What does the Polish election mean for Europe? (11:00-12:00)
- Tomasz Sawczuk – Head of the Political Department, Kultura Liberalna
- Jörg Lau – Foreign Policy Editor, Die Zeit, Germany
- Camino Mortera-Martinez – Head of Brussels office, Centre for European Reform
- Moderator: Andrzej Bobiński – Managing Director, Polityka Insight
The long war in Europe – Defence strategy for a continent in need (12:20-13:30)
- Pierre Haroche – Lecturer, Queen Mary University London
- Dominik Jankowski – Senior Policy Adviser, Office of the NATO Secretary General
- Nathalie Tocci – Director, Instituto Affari Internazionali
- Moderator: Marek Świerczyński – Head of Security and International Affairs Desk, Polityka Insight
Between China and the US – the European search for an industrial strategy (14:45-16:00)
- Adam Czerniak – Director for Research and Chief Economist, Polityka Insight
- Philipp Jäger – Policy Fellow, Jacques Delors Centre, Berlin
- Julia Patorska – Partner Associate, Sustainability Consulting Central Europe, Deloitte
- Shahin Vallée – Senior Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
- Moderator: Vendeline von Bredow – Senior Germany Correspondent, The Economist
Energy transition and security – the road to European resilience (16:20-17:20)
- Szymon Kardaś – Senior Fellow, ECFR
- Dalida Gepfert – CEO, Veolia Energy Contracting Poland
- Federico Santi – Senior Researcher, Eurasia Group
- Moderator: Robert Tomaszewski – Head of Energy Desk, Polityka Insight
Fireside chat: How can the EU defend democracy? (17:20-17:40)
- Věra Jourová – Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, European Commission
- Moderator: Joanna Bekker – Deputy Managing Director, Polityka Insight
