Under the European Parliament’s Framework Contract that TEPSA won in 2009, TEPSA was requested to organize two workshops commissioned by the Security and Defence Committee:
Workshop on EU-China relations
The main objective of this workshop was to analyse the impact of China’s policies on bilateral relations and on EU interests in the context of growing interdependence between the two sides. It was organised on the 21st of June at the European Parliament with the following experts: Dr. Hongyi Lai of the University of Nottingham on China’s domestic politics, Dr. Valérie Niquet of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) on China’s foreign policy and Mr Jonas Parello-Plesner of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on the EU-China relations. The workshop started with a welcome address by the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrey Kovatchev followed by introductory remarks of the Chairperson of the Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China Mr Crescenzio Rivellini. After the presentation of the three experts, the floor was opened for questions and comments from Members of the European Parliament and other participants. The report of this workshop will be available soon onto our website.
Workshop on Nagorno-Karabakh: security situation
This workshop on the security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh took place on 20 June 2012 at the European Parliament in Brussels. The main objective was to provide a description of the security situation in the region. Arnaud Danjean (Member of the European Parliament) introduced the debate and was followed by the presentations of three experts: Dr. Tracey German from King’s College London with an introduction to the Nagorno-Karabakh security situation, Dr. Adam Eberhardt from Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) with a countries briefing on Armenia and Azerbaijan and Dennis Sammut from LINKS on an EU approach and Instruments at our disposal. The discussion was oriented towards the security context in the region Nagorno Karabakh. All three experts evaluated the effects of a possible conflict spill across the region from a security, economical, and geostrategic point of views. Mr Philippe Lefort, EU special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia concluded the discussion. The report of the workshop will be available soon onto our website.
Moreover three other requests from the European Parliament are currently in preparation to provide expertise on: the EU approach to security sector reform, the maritime dimension of CSDP and the development of the European defence technological and industrial base. For more information on these upcoming requests please contact laura.ventura@tepsa.eu