1st Summer Course on the European Union “The Challenges of the European Union: An Expert and Institutional Perspective”

The European Parliament’s office in Barcelona, the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona and the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) are launching their first summer course on the European Union. The days will be monographic sessions with a theoretical and practical perspective. The sessions will be divided between an intervention by a keynote speaker from the Commission or the European Parliament, followed by a dialogue with a journalist and a roundtable with CIDOB researchers; officials of the European institutions, from either the European Parliament or the European Commission; and independent experts. The aim of this summer course is to provide students with a complete perspective on the debates and challenges of the European Union in the short, medium and long term, and analytical tools so that they can analyse and understand the European reality and become an active member in it. Those enrolled in the course will receive, upon request, a certificate of participation. 

The course will provide answers to the internal and international challenges the European Union is facing. The first day, we will explore how the EU has reacted to the Covid-19 and what does the launch of the Next Generation EU mean; without losing sight of the Digital Agenda and the threats that can derivate from it such disinformation. The second day will review the debates around the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). And the last day will focus on the European Green Deal and the tensions it faces, such as climate change or economic transformations with social impacts resulting from decarbonisation and the energy transition.

Speakers:

• Hannah Abdullah, Senior Research Fellow, CIDOB
• Sergi Barrera, Head of the European Parliament’s office in Barcelona
• Dimitri Barua, Assistant to the deputy Director-general, Directorate General for Communication, European Commission
• Anna Bosch, Journalist, RTVE
• Carme Colomina, Research Fellow, CIDOB
• Alessandro D’Alfonso, Policy Analyst, Budgetary Policies Unit, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS)
• Gregor Erbach, Head of Department, Climate Action Research and Tracking Service, Directorate Members’ Research Service, European Parliament
• Iratxe García Pérez, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and member of the executive board of the Conference on the Future of Europe
• Shada Islam, Commentator on EU affairs
• Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
• Isabel de la Mata, Principal Adviser for Health and Crisis Management, European Commission
• Cristina Monge, Executive Advisor, ECODES; Associate Lecturer, University of Zaragoza
• Pol Morillas, Director, CIDOB
• Héctor Sánchez Margalef, Researcher, CIDOB
• Corina Stratulat, Senior Analyst, EPC
• Manuel Szapiro, Director, Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona
• Rafael Vilasanjuan, Director of Policy and Global Development, ISGlobal
• Clara de la Torre, Deputy Director-General, Climate Action, European Commission