The June conference will bring experts, policy-makers, civil society and the wider public together to discuss the priorities of the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
MADRID, 22/05/2023: On 1 July, Spain will take over the reins of the Council of the European Union, holding the Rotating Presidency for the fourth time. To discuss the aims and priorities of the incoming Spanish Presidency, TEPSA and the Elcano Royal Institute will host policy-makers to meet with key stakeholders and the wider public in a Pre-Presidency Conference (PPC) taking place on June 1-2.
María Lledó, Secretary-General for the European Union at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will speak at the conference. Other officials, MEPs, MPs and representatives of the civil society will also participate along the several dozens of analysts from the most important think tanks and research centres on EU affairs of the whole continent.
Before every Council Presidency, the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) joins with its Member Institute in the relevant country to organise the Pre-Presidency Conference. PPCs have become a staple of the European political year ever since the first one, hosted to preview the Irish presidency of January-June 1975. Ahead of the conference, TEPSA will also present its recommendations for the Spanish Presidency, which have been drafted by TEPSA researchers.
TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos describes the value of Pre-Presidency Conferences as “a perfect opportunity to bring together representatives of the TEPSA network and political decision-makers. This cross-fertilization is essential for a vibrant debate about Europe in the run-up to each Presidency. It allows our TEPSA members to make a difference”.
Ignacio Molina, senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, underlines that “Elcano is happy to join forces with Tepsa this year in Madrid to organize the Spanish Pre-Presidency Conference. For the Elcano Royal Institute, it is an honor to host the conference with TEPSA, a network of research institutes that is already half a century old, in collaboration with the CIBOB, an associate member of TEPSA, and together with 47 leading institutes from 37 European countries”.
The discussions in Madrid will concern key policy issues of our times, including (in a context of Ukraine and Moldova’s newfound status as EU candidate countries) the state of play of the enlargement file, how to build a competitive economy for Europe, and the impact of post-truth politics on the EU, among others.
The conference is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as via TEPSA’s CERV Operating Grant. In the context of one panel discussion, it has received funding from the Horizon project ‘Reclaiming Liberal Democracy in the Postfactual Age’.
The event will take place in Madrid on 1-2 June.
-ENDS-
Read the full press release here.
Learn more about the Spanish Pre-Presidency Conference here.
Press inquiries to: hugh.evans@tepsa.eu
