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Debating the Future of Europe: Towards meaningful EU criticism

Webinar · 10.11.2020 12:30 - 14:00

The recording of the webinar:

The debate on the future of Europe has gained a new momentum due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related recovery measures adopted by the EU. Against this backdrop, the importance of the Conference on the Future of Europe has been highlighted as a platform for much needed public discussion concerning the direction of the EU. While the support for the EU has remained relatively high among citizens, the recent recovery decisions have also empowered Eurosceptic and populist parties. Consequently, the debate has been often reduced to the simple choice of for or against the EU. What are the current political trends in debating the future of the EU? How to move beyond the populist framing of the EU affairs?

This event marked the publication of the book Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak and Paul Schmidt.

The webinar was organised in cooperation with the European Parliament and the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA). It is co-funded by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union.

PROGRAMME:

Speakers:
Michael Kaeding, Jean Monnet Professor, University of Duisburg-Essen, and former TEPSA Chairman
Juha Jokela, Programme Director, FIIA, and member of the board of TEPSA

Panellists:
Othmar Karas, Vice-President, European Parliament
Heidi Hautala, Vice-President, European Parliament
Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Member of the European Parliament

Moderator:
Jarmo Oikarinen, Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Finland

Registration by Monday 9 November to Leonard Wilhelmus, leonard.wilhelmus@fiia.fi.

Speakers

Speaker

Michael Kaeding

Jean Monnet Professor, University of Duisburg-Essen, and former TEPSA Chairman

Michael Kaeding is Professor for European Integration and European Union Politics at the Department of Political Science of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and the Chairman of TEPSA. He holds an ad personam Jean Monnet chair. Furthermore, he is a Visiting Fellow at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, a Member of the Flying Faculty at the College of Europe in Bruges and Deputy Dean at the Department of Social Science of the University of Duisburg-Essen. His academic research covers books and articles broadly on European politics and EU institutions.

Speaker

Juha Jokela

Programme Director, FIIA, and memeber of the board of TEPSA

Juha Jokela is the Programme Director of the European Union research programme at FIIA and member of the board of TEPSA. His current research interests include political implications of Brexit, differentiated integration (in the EU’s external relations), and the EMU reforms. His previous projects and publications include political and security developments in the Arctic, the EU’s role in the G20, the EU’s Asia policy, Europeanization of foreign policy, and Finland’s EU policy. Previously he has worked in the EUISS as a Senior Associated Analyst and Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Advisor in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Research Fellow and Director of the Network for European Studies at the University of Helsinki. Dr Jokela holds a PhD from the University of Bristol (UK).

Panelist

Othmar Karas

Vice-President, European Parliament

Othmar Karas is an Austrian Member of the European Parliament since 1999 representing the European People’s Party and Vice-President of the European Parliament (2012 2014 and 2019–). Karas has served as the Head of Delegation of the Austrian People’s Party in the European Parliament (2006–2009 and 2011–2019) and as the Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (2014–2019). In addition, he has been an active member in several other Parliament committees. Dr. Karas is also Board Member of the Austrian Association for Insurance Knowledge and Professor/Lector at Danube University Krems and Lector at the Vienna University for Economics and Business.

Panelist

Heidi Hautala

Vice-President, European Parliament

Heidi Hautala is a Finnish Member of the European Parliament 1995 to 2003, 2009 to 2011, and since 2014 representing the Greens and Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2017. In this term she serves as a Member of the Committee on International Trade and of the Subcommittee on Human Rights. She also serves as a Substitute Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs. In addition, Hautala has served as Minister for International Development and State Ownership Steering in the Government of Finland 2011-2013.

Panelist

Miapetra Kumpula-Natri

Member of the European Parliament

Miapetra Kumpula-Natri is a Finnish Member of the European Parliament since 2014 representing the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Kumpula-Natri has been serving on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). In addition to her committee assignments, she is also Vice-Chair of the Parliament’s delegation for relations with the United States. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age.

Chair

Jarmo Oikarinen

Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Finland

Jarmo Oikarinen is the Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Finland since 2016. He studied at the University of Tampere, University College Dublin, and Rutgers University. Following the completion of his PhD in 1999, he worked as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Tampere including projects for the Academy of Finland. Since 2004 he has been an official of the European Parliament in various positions, primarily within the Directorate-General for External Relations of the Union.

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