“European Elections 2019: Is the migration challenge the ultimate threat to the European Unity and Solidarity?”
May 22nd, 14h00-17h30, Belliard Room, Rue Montoyer 24, 1000, Bruxelles
in cooperation with the Institute for Danube region and central Europe and Regional Implementation Initiative on preventing and combating human trafficking
14.00 –14.30 Registration
14.30 -14.50 Welcome remarks:
Mr Guy Bultynck, President of the CLB-ACP
Ambassador Denise De Hauwere, President of CEIPA
14.50-16.50 Panelists statements in alphabetical order:
Jacopo Barigazzi, Reporter, Politico
Professor Marc Bossuyt, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and a former judge at the Belgian Constitutional Court
Alfred Kellermann, visiting Professor at The Hague University and Senior Policy Advisor
Dr Helga Konrad, Head of the Regional Implementation Initiative on Preventing and Combating all Forms of Human Trafficking
Giles Merritt, founder and chairman of Friends of Europe think tank
David Reisenzein, Head of Frontex Liaison Office in Brussels, European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX)
Panelists will address the following issues:
Do migration fake news about EU policies hold potential for further polarizing voters in the European Member States and play in the hands of populist movements in Europe?
Is the controversy over the recently adopted UN Global Compact on Migration incited by populist movements, a sign of failure to endow the European Union with capacities for playing a role at the global stage?
Will the outcome of the EU elections 2019 deepen the rift between states and regions in the European Union and impair the efforts towards common asylum and migration policies?
Can migration continue driving a wedge between EU citizens and European Union tapping into the well of xenophobia and racism and thus further throwing into doubt the future of the European project?
Will the outcome of the European elections set off sustained disinformation over migration?
Do the EU citizens attach more importance to justice and migration than the concept of governance of the European Union?
Will the rift between the so-called “Visegrad Countries” and “old Europe” over disputed migration policy cause irreparable damage to European unity?
Is the solidarity principle a cover-up for the inability of European policymakers to come to terms with the root causes and consequences of migration?
Will the migration issue and the controversy over the UN Migration Pact further polarise the voters in the European member states, destabilize governments and feed the anti-EU trends of future European policymakers? Is the controversy over the recently adopted UN Migration Pact a further sign of failure and weakness of European policymakers in defining and communicating common migration policies? What are the obligations of the EU member states adopting the UN Migration Pact?
16.50 – 17.15 Plenary debate and Q&A
17.15 – 17.30 Closing and final remarks:
Patsy Sörensen, CEIPA Founder and expert in trafficking in human beings
Jelena von Helldorff, PhD, Senior Researcher and CEIPA Senior Policy Advisor
17.30 End of meeting
Moderator: Peter von Bethlenfalvy, Executive Director, CEIPA
Website and financial supervision: Dominique Foubert, Treasurer, CEIPA
Event Manager: Silvia Lamonaca, Senior Program Manager, CEIPA