Europe in the World - Where do we stand in the global coordinate system?
What is the current direction of Europe's foreign policy? Is there a common denominator for Europe's foreign policy? Is Europe prepared to act together on foreign affairs? The opening plenary of the 30th EGP Council will take a look at Europe's foreign policy and current positioning in a multilateral world. Our invited speakers, all experts in their field, will explore different regions of the globe from a European perspective - from the escalating trade war between the US and China through the EU's ongoing accession talks with its partners in the Western Balkans to the developments Africa. The event will open with a short introduction, followed by a moderated presentation session of our speakers, and concluded by a questions and answers session with the participation of the audience.
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Speakers:
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Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary for the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Finland) Johanna Sumuvuori was appointed as State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto on 4 July 2019. As a State Secretary she assists the minister in matters relating to political steering and preparatory work. She also assists and represents the ministers in the drafting of policy outlines and in inter-ministerial coordination, harmonising of policy positions, implementation of the Government Programme in the minister's administrative branch, and handling of EU and international affairs. In her position, Sumuvuori will deal with matters relating to public relations and deputise for the minister. She has previously been a Press Officer at the Embassy of Finland in London. Sumuvuori has also wide experience of politics, communications, culture, and civil society organisations. She has previously been a Member of Parliament representing the Green League and a city councillor, and she has held leading positions in civil society organisations as well as different kinds of positions of trust. She holds the degrees of Master of Social Sciences and Master of Arts. Twitter: @sumuvuori Facebook: Johanna Sumuvuori |
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Ulrike Lunacek, former Vice-President (2014 - 2017) and Member of the European Parliament (2009 - 2017) and the Austrian Parliament (1999 - 2009) (Austria) Ulrike Lunacek is an Austrian and European Green politician (1995 - 2017). Her activities in the EP included being Rapporteur for Kosovo (2009 - 2017) and for the „Roadmap against Homophobia” in 2014. In Foreign Affairs her focus lay on South Eastern Europe (mainly Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro), in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs she focused on democracy, rule of law and LGBTI rights. She was Co-Chair of the EP’s LGBTI Intergroup. Before joining the Austrian Greens in 1995 and becoming Austria’s first openly lesbian politician she worked as journalist and interpreter in the fields of development, women’s and LGBTI issues. From 2006 - 2008 she was one of the Co-Chairperson of the European Green Party. In 2017 she resigned from all political functions after leading Austrian Greens in a difficult national election campaign which left them out of the National Parliament – until the snap elections on 29th Septemnber 2019, which saw the Austrian Greens come back with an amazing 13,9%! Twitter: @UlrikeLunacek Facebook: @ulrike.lunacek |
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Angela Stanzel, Senior Policy Fellow, Asia Program, Institut Montaigne (Germany) Dr. Angela Stanzel is a Senior Policy Fellow in the Asia Programme and the representative in Germany of Institut Montaigne. Before joining Institut Montaigne, Angela worked as Senior Policy Fellow and editor of China Analysis in the Asia Programme of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Angela Stanzel earned her Ph.D. in Sinology at Freie Universität Berlin in 2013. Alongside China’s foreign policy and EU-China relations, her research work focuses on South Asia in the context of China’s rise. Angela has been a member of the Young China Watchers (YCW) in Berlin since 2015. Website: Institut Montaigne Twitter: @angela_stanzel |
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Peter Eriksson, Minister for International Development Cooperation (Sweden) Peter Eriksson is the new Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since January 2019. In the previous Swedish Government Peter Eriksson had the position of Minister of Housing and Digitization. Peter Eriksson has also been a member of the European Parliament, member of the Swedish Parliament and president of the Committee on the Constitution. Additionally, Peter Eriksson has also been one of two spokespersons for the Swedish Green Party during 2002-2011 and Mayor in his hometown Kalix. Twitter @MinisterPeterE Instagram @PeterErikssonmp Facebook @petererikssonmp |
Moderator:
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Reinhard Bütikofer, Co-chair of the European Green Party Reinhard Bütikofer,is a Co-Chair of the European Green Party since 2012 and is a Member of the European Parliament for the German Green party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen since 2009. He served as co-leader of the German Greens from 2002 to 2008, and as the party’s secretary general from 1998 to 2002. He was a member of the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament from 1988 to 1996. In the European Parliament he sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and is a substitute member of the Committee on International Trade (INTA). Besides the Committees, he is chairing the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China (EU-CN), and he is a member of the Delegation for relations with the United States (EU-US). Mr. Bütikofer is a member of the General Assembly and of the Europe/Transatlantic advisory board of the Böll Foundation. He is a member of NABU, of the EFM board, of ver.di, of Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft, of the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum, and of DGAP. Website: https://reinhardbuetikofer.eu Twitter: @bueti FB: @r.bueti |