Maastricht University and Europe
Leading up to the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, UM participated in three 'Europe events'. A photo report of these events can be found at the bottom of this page.
European top conference
The Province of Limburg and the municipality of Maastricht organised several conferences with the theme Europe Calling, including an EU & ME top conference on Friday 9 December. Among the participants were Jean Claude Juncker (Chairman of the European Committee), Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament), Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Dutch Minister of Finance and chairman of the Eurogroup) and Herman van Rompuy (Former EC president). UM was also represented at the event. Mathieu Segers, professor of European history and European integration, and Bruno de Witte, professor of European law, participated in the panel discussions.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem talks to UM students
After the conference, Jeroen Dijsselbloem visited UM to talk to students about the challenges and opportunities for the EU. The consequences of the Brexit on economical and political processes in the Netherlands were also discussed.
Watch the video impression of the discussion between Jeroen Dijsselbloem and UM students.
Frans Timmermans about the future of Europe
On December 8th Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, attended the Citizen's Dialoge, an event organised by the European Commission together with University College Maastricht. At La Bonbonnière, he discussed the importance of Europe and he plead for solidarity and trust.
Watch a video impression of the Citizen's Dialogue with Frans Timmermans.
You can also watch a full video reportage of the evening.
A photo impression of the events
Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, during the Citizen's Dialogue on 8 December.
The public in dalogue with Frans Timmermans on the importance of Europe.
The debate with Frans Timmermans was moderated by Mathieu Segers, Professor of Contemporary European History and European Integration and Dean of University College Maastricht.
The Citizen's Dialogue took place at La Bonbonnière, Maastricht.
Questions that were addressed were: which direction do we want to take? What is the purpose of borders and what are the dangers of walls? Why are solidarity, inclusion and trust so important and how are we going to achieve them together?
EU & ME top conference on Friday 9 December in Maastricht.
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. Read his speech
The panel of the morning programme consisted of: Gordon Bajnai, former Prime Minister of Hungary, Paul de Grauwe, economist, teaches at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank (The Dutch national bank) and Mathieu Segers, Professor of Contemporary European History and European Integration and dean of University College Maastricht (from left to right).
Theo Bovens, the King's Commissioner of the Province of Limburg and Jean-Claude Juncker.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament. Read his speech
The panel of the afternoon programme consisted of: Maria João Rodrigues, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of S&D Group, George Papaconstantinou, former Minister of Finance of Greece, Bruno de Witte, Professor of European Law at Maastricht University and Janis Emmanouilidis, Director of Studies at the European Policy Centre (EPC) (from left to right).
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands and President of the Eurogroup talks to students of Maastricht University. The discussion was moderated by Peter Schotman, Vice Dean of the School of Business and Economics.
Earlier that day, Dijsselbloem gave a speech during the EU&ME summit. Read his speech
The Q&A with Dijsselbloem was part of the Ambassador Lecture Series, organised together with study association SCOPE Economics.
The Minister got many questions from the students about the chances and threats the EU is facing.
Some of the questions addressed complex issues like the future of the Eurozone, fiscal policies and the consequences of Brexit.
Dijsselbloem left the students with a piece of advice: "Work hard, see a lot of the world before you settle down and always keep in mind it's better to work together."