Examining the EU's Future: Conference on Values, Actions, and Challenges

In recent years, the EU has pursued initiatives to build a resilient Europe amid economic difficulties and continental conflict, strive for a greener economy, defend common European values, and empower citizens in shaping the EU's future. Key achievements include the creation of NextGenerationEU for recovery, a coordinated response to the Ukraine conflict, legislation for 2030 climate targets, legal action against breaches of EU values, and the citizen-led Conference on the Future of Europe. However, the EU has faced challenges such as political divisions, dominance of certain interests, lack of solidarity, and distrust in the EU institutions' impartiality and effectiveness, raising questions about its strategic agenda.

The conference will delve into these issues through four themes: institutional change, environmental protection, borders and membership, and inequality and cohesion. The  interdisciplinary approach aims to analyse the gap between the EU's aspirations and its real-world outcomes, establishing a dialogue between academics and practitioners across multiple disciplines.

Inspiring keynote speaker

As part of the opening of the conference, European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly will give a keynote presentation. 

The European Ombudsman is an independent and impartial body that holds the EU’s institutions and agencies to account, and promotes good administration. The Ombudsman helps people, businesses, and organisations facing problems with the EU’s administration by investigating complaints about maladministration by EU institutions and bodies, as well as by proactively looking into broader systemic issues.